Vacancies for private practice lawyers across the North East have risen by 24 percent month-on-month according to new survey data from specialist recruiter, Clayton Legal. The firm believes the rise in advertised positions can largely be attributed to a buoyant commercial property market thanks to inward investment into the region which is fuelling demand for conveyancing professionals.
The survey, which was compiled based on the recruiter’s comprehensive data on advertised roles, reveals that commercial property paralegals and assistants have been the most sought after professionals. This is in keeping with recent data from CBRE’s H1 2017 Property Perspective which reveals that Leeds witnessed improved levels of office take-up when compared with the first half of 2016. Much of the reason for this stems from Leeds’ position as one of the most cost effective locations in the UK for commercial property – something that will encourage more inward investment as the city makes its mark as a true alternative to the South East and London.
Commenting on the results of the data, Lynn Sedgwick, Managing Director at Clayton Legal said: “It’s perhaps unsurprising that vacancy levels in the region are rising – after all, Leeds and the surrounding areas are set to be major beneficiaries of the Northern Powerhouse. And it appears that this is prompting many businesses to invest in the area – something that we expect to continue for the foreseeable future.
Furthermore, with Leeds being cited as one of the cities that stands to benefit from the arrival of HS2, the coming months and years could be particularly buoyant for the commercial property arena. Consequently, conveyancing professionals are not only highly sought after now, but will be for the foreseeable future. Firms in the region must ensure that talent pipelining strategies are adequate to support the demand for skills they will face in response to increased workloads.”
Elsewhere across the North East, Clayton’s data reveals that solicitors and paralegals specialising in civil litigation were also in demand across the region – an area that the recruitment consultancy has noted steady requirements for since the beginning of the year.
