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updated on 11 January 2016
The Co-operative Group has bought up the Sheffield-based Collective Legal Solution Group – the retailer’s first legal acquisition since launching its legal services offering in 2012, when the Co-op became the joint-first organisation to gain an alternative business structure licence.
This acquisition represents the Co-op moving away from telephone and online services, and back toward a traditional face-to-face offering. As reported by the Law Society Gazette, the Collective Legal Solution Group boasts some 100 associates, specialising in face-to-face wills and inheritance-planning services.
Matt Howells, managing director at CLS, told the Law Society Gazette: “We have had a strategic review on the wills and probate business and consumer research tells us the majority of clients value a face-to-face service. Our existing service was telephone based and remote. This acquisition enables us to have an alternative channel to market.”