The firm
With 20 partners and more than 120 staff, B P Collins has over 40 years' experience working within the Buckinghamshire and Thames Valley area. The firm has its main office in the wealthy Buckinghamshire town of Gerrards Cross, with a smaller office in the equally well-off Beaconsfield. Unsurprisingly, many of the firm's clients are high-net-worth individuals, including senior executives of national and international businesses, wealthy private clients and also non-UK residents. In addition to private client work, B P Collins has one of the strongest company and commercial departments in the South East outside London. The firm is praised by clients for the 'reasonable fees and good level of service'.
The star performers
Charities; Commercial litigation; Commercial property; Corporate and commercial; Employment; Family; Personal tax, trusts and probate.
The deals
Handling a wide variety of commercial work for local, national and international organisations; advising on complex real estate acquisitions and developments; advising companies and plcs on employment issues; advising on private client and matrimonial issues.
The clients
Avid Technology Europe; City & Provincial Properties; Jansons; National Society for Epilepsy; Owner-managed businesses and PLCs; charities and other non-for-profit organisations; successful executives and professionals.
The money
The Lex 100 verdict
As we said last year, if a good quality of life in a pleasant Home Counties town sounds appealing, then you should take a look at BP Collins. With easy access to the capital, the firm offers a broad mix of commercial and private client work, reasonable working hours and good opportunities for early responsibility. Trainees particularly like the fact that they get 'good exposure to real issues in a case and more client contact than many peers'. They feel the environment is 'supportive and the workload more manageable', while the 'level of responsibility is greater'. The atmosphere is encouraging for trainees - 'the partners are very approachable' and 'the people who are involved in training take their responsibilities very seriously'. The main complaints this year tend to focus on the pay, the lack of benefits and the poor social scene. There were also some comments about the firm's focus on wealthy clients and the fact that trainees would like more opportunities to do pro bono work. They would also like a canteen! These issues aside, BP Collins is a good place to experience a broad range of practice areas and clients (both in the local community and further afield), plenty of responsibility and client contact and an opportunity to excel in a friendly working environment with a smallish but supportive group of colleagues.