WHEN it comes to hanging on to homegrown talent, a Worcester law firm is one of the best.

Harrison Clark Rickerbys, which has an office in High Street, retains 100 per cent of its newly qualified solicitors, an increase of 21.8 per cent on the national average retention figure for trainees qualifying into UK law firms in 2013. Charlotte Avery has qualified into the commercial department, Nathan Guest has joined the residential property department and Jennifer McClean has joined the corporate department.

There have also been celebrations at the firm's Cheltenham office, where, in the business services departments, Emme Kent joins the commercial property department and Morgan West qualifies into the litigation department. On the private client side Olivia Young qualifies into the family law team. Lottie Goldstone, who completed her training contract at the Cheltenham office, now joins Harrison Clark Rickerbys as a contentious and non-contentious specialist in the landed estates division, working from the firm’s Cheltenham and Thames Valley offices.

Robert Capper, partner and head of the commercial department at Harrison Clark Rickerbys, said; "We are thrilled to be in a position to offer permanent positions to all of our newly qualified solicitors and are justifiably proud of our retention rates, which we feel endorse Harrison Clark Rickerbys' reputation as a strong and genuine alternative to the ‘city firms’. The fact that we have also appointed additional newly qualified solicitors from other law firms to meet increasing client demand is a testament to the positive reputation of Harrison Clark Rickerbys and the quality of service we deliver."

Dawn Oliver, partner and head of private client at HCR, added: "We are pleased to welcome the new faces to our teams at Harrison Clark Rickerbys and continue to offer opportunities for new talent to develop in a supportive working environment. It has been a pleasure to witness firsthand the professional development of our own trainee solicitors and we are delighted that they wish remain with us as qualified solicitors. We have been impressed by their strong work ethic and legal expertise and are confident that they will add real value to our client offering. Who knows, they may go on to follow in the footsteps of three of our current partners who also joined the firm as trainees."