Client

Location

Sectors

Thorntons Personal Injury

Thorntons Law LLP is one of the largest independent full service, legal, property and investment firms in Scotland. From its headquarters in Dundee, it serves Scotland and in recent years has grown its personal injury division into a multi-million pound business. In 2017 Thorntons was named Scotland’s Best Large Employer by Business Insider. At the Law Awards of Scotland the same year it was named Law Firm of the Year.

Thorntons’ personal injury division generates most of its business through its partnerships with Claims Management Companies (CMCs), including National Accident Helpline, the leading national CMC.

Thorntons has ambitions to further grow its personal injury division and looked to Robertson Collaborate to work with them to help shape the strategic direction. The process involved stakeholder engagement, including meetings with strategic partners, the Joint-Managing Partners and staff from the personal injury team, and extensive desk-based online research.

The Challenge

Since the Jackson Reforms were introduced in April 2013 in England and Wales, the sector has been through a period of change and, whilst Scotland did not go down the same regulatory route as England and Wales, the change has had a knock-on effect in Scotland as the sector adjusted to the impact of the new regulations. The sector is now more competitive and it has also gone through a significant marketing shift from phone to web-based response in recent years. After what had been a quieter period, Thorntons wanted to return to its pre-April 2013 volume of personal injury cases and grow further from there.

The Solution

Robertson Collaborate undertook a review of the personal injury sector in Scotland, including market sizing, an analysis of the online and offline marketing strategies and competitor analysis. Armed with this data, Robertson Collaborate put forward a series of strategic options and recommendations. The process also involved supporting the Thorntons team on business development with key CMC partners and working with them in a structured way to solicit ideas to improve the service. The strategic marketing and business development recommendations were shared and endorsed by the Managing Partners.

The Result

Thorntons secured a long-term partnership with National Accident Helpline and the volume of cases is now returning to pre-April 2013 levels. Significantly, Thorntons also secured a major contract with Quindell, one of the largest personal injury legal firms in the UK.