Greater Manchester has more than a hundred thousand businesses, from market stalls in Bury and takeaways on the Curry Mile to the headquarters of national retailers and the fastest-growing digital companies in the north. The law touches all of them, and the city's business solicitors range from sole practitioners who charge fixed fees to the regional offices of national firms in Spinningfields.
The work follows the life of a company. At the start, a solicitor advises on the structure, sets up the limited company or LLP and drafts the shareholders' or partnership agreement that saves friendships later. As the business trades, it needs terms of business, supplier and customer contracts, a commercial lease for premises in the Northern Quarter or an industrial unit in Trafford Park, employment contracts, data protection compliance and, for anything with a brand, trade mark protection. Growth brings investment agreements, often with Manchester's active angel and venture networks, and eventually a sale or a succession plan.
When things go wrong, Manchester has its own commercial courts. The Business and Property Courts in Manchester at the Civil Justice Centre hear contract, company and insolvency disputes that once had to go to London, and the city's solicitors handle debt recovery, shareholder disputes, director disqualification and insolvency matters there, usually after trying mediation first.
Choose a firm that matches your scale: a two-person start-up does not need a City-style retainer, but a company raising investment should use a solicitor who has closed similar deals. Ask about fixed fees for standard documents, hourly rates for disputes and who will do the work day to day.
The solicitors below offer business and commercial services within 20 miles of Manchester city centre, verified firms first. Our guides to business law, corporate law and dispute resolution give the background, and see employment law solicitors in Manchester and IP solicitors in Manchester for related work.
