Office move for Walkers

Thursday 29 September 2022

Offshore law firm Walkers has moved to new, larger, premises in St Peter Port to accommodate its Guernsey based workforce, after its local employee headcount almost trebled within four years.

‌Now based at Helvetia Court at Les Echelons, Walkers has also confirmed a plans for further anticipated expansion.

Walkers' Guernsey Managing Partner Matt Sanders said that the investment in new premises underlined the firm's commitment to developing its Guernsey-law offering, which is already ranked in the top-tier by independent legal directories in key practice areas.

"We are delighted to be moving into larger offices at a time when our targeted recruitment activity is continuing at pace," said Mr Sanders.‌

"We have transformed our business in the past four years. In every practice group of the firm we have both promoted high performing lawyers from within the business, and made significant hires of market-leading lawyers from competitor firms in Guernsey, as well as internationally.

"In the past 24 months alone we have promoted two partners, three senior counsel, and a senior associate. We have also hired 11 new lawyers in the same period, including partners David Cooney and Craig Cordle, both of whom have a market-leading position in their respective practice groups and both of whom were with competitor firms in Guernsey.

"All of these promotions and hires have had a tremendously positive impact on our business. At the same time we have worked extremely hard to retain and reinforce our collaborative culture and approach."

Fraser Hern, the Head of Walkers' Channel Islands business, added: "There is a bright future ahead for Guernsey's financial services industry, and we are confident that Walkers will sustain our growth both in headcount and market share here in the Bailiwick.

"Our team in Guernsey – from the partnership right through to the associates' bench – has many years of experience both in the jurisdiction and internationally, and are rightly praised in the legal directories for their technical skill, responsiveness and client care standards. We have a very clear ambition to be the market leader in all of our core practice groups, and we feel we are continuing along a very positive trajectory towards achieving this."