News
LDC backs Harper James to widen access to legal advice for ambitious businesses
25 Jun 2025
Harper James, a full-service commercial law firm purpose built to enable growth-oriented businesses to succeed, has secured investment from LDC, part of Lloyds Banking Group.
Headquartered in Birmingham, Harper James delivers tailored legal support to SMEs across the UK through a transparent and cost-effective subscription-based model that can scale according to their needs. Clients have access to a network of fully remote top-tier lawyers – with an average of 17+ years’ experience – at a fraction of the cost of traditional city law firms.
Since launching in 2014, Harper James has supported more than 6,500 clients and now has a team of over 140 people. It is a people-first business with a strong focus on work-life balance, an established culture and core values. Technology has always underpinned the firm’s model and it is developing innovative and proprietary technology to optimise and leverage efficiencies through AI. The business has achieved consistent double-digit year-on-year growth, with revenue increasing annually by an average of 33% over the past three years.
LDC is backing the firm’s management team, led by founder and CEO Toby Harper. The leading private equity investor will support continued organic growth through further investment into Harper James’ differentiated, technology-enabled model and will also support Harper James to target complementary acquisitions that broaden the firm’s range of services and add even more value for its clients.
The investment was led by LDC’s West Midlands team, including Partner and Head of the West Midlands, Chris Handy, and Investment Directors Karen Mann and Matt Newbold. Following the transaction, Chris and Karen will join Harper James’ board as Non-Executive Directors, alongside Steve Weller as Non-Executive Chairman. Steve brings extensive CEO and board-level experience of working with other private equity-backed businesses including The Barrister Group.
This partnership with LDC is a major milestone in our mission to make expert legal advice more accessible and affordable for ambitious businesses. Much like the clients we support in their journeys, we believe in doing things differently and we’re excited to partner with LDC on the next phase of our growth journey."
Toby continued: “From our very first meeting, the team at LDC has shown a genuine understanding of our culture and vision, and we look forward to working with them to take Harper James to the next level and offer even greater value to our clients and our people.”
Chris Handy, Partner and Head of the West Midlands at LDC, added: “Today’s technology-enabled SMEs want greater flexibility and the option to work with advisers in a way that reflects how they do business. Harper James’ innovative model, people-first culture and commitment to delivering flexible high-quality legal services make it a standout firm in a fast-evolving market. We’re looking forward to supporting Toby and his team as they continue to disrupt the traditional legal sector and pursue the firm’s ambitious growth strategy.”
The transaction is subject to approval by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
In the last decade alone, LDC has invested over £644m into 29 business services companies, with a combined enterprise value of £2.2bn. Our experience of supporting management teams in the sector to grow their business extends right across the UK and includes our investment in tech-enabled legal services company The Barrister Group, our seven-year partnership with law firm Keoghs, and our exit and reinvestment in professional pensions trusteeship and governance provider, Independent Governance Group.
Senior debt facilities were provided by Investec.
LDC was advised by Springboard (corporate finance), Freeths (legal), KPMG (FDD), Clearwater (debt) and Coppett Hill (GtM DD).
Harper James was advised by Clearwater (corporate finance), Eversheds Sutherland (legal) and Claritas (tax).