HCR Hereford turns 10!

You’ll have seen our offices opposite the cathedral in the heart of Hereford. We opened our office in 2012 and haven’t looked back since. We’ve been involved in all parts of city life, as you’ll find out below, from raising funds for local good causes to creating the Three Counties Defence and Security Expo.

Starting out

HCR Hereford has grown from an office with five staff working from two rooms to being part of a top 70 law firm with over 50 staff based here. In just 10 years we’ve accomplished a lot. For example, the firm’s defence, security and the forces sector team now operates both nationally and internationally. It started, and remains based, in the Hereford office.

In the community

HCR’s passion for people has always extended into the communities we work in. We want to do whatever we can to help our local areas thrive. In the last decade, the Hereford office have helped countless projects, just some of which are noted here.

Every year since 2012, HCR Hereford has taken part in the Royal National College for the Blind’s will writing scheme, offering pro-bono wills, in return for clients making donations to the RNC in lieu of legal fees. We have also participated in the RNC’s work experience scheme, offering visually impaired students the opportunity to gain valuable experience working in an office environment.

The office was a founding donor to NMITE, Herefordshire’s new model in engineering university, which welcomed its first cohort of students in September 2021.

In 2017, we organised and ran a fundraising car wash to raise money to help towards the renovation of Close House in Hereford. Using the funds raised, our lawyers then spent the weekend renovating a storage area in the house into a counselling room.

We also raised funds at Whitney-on-Wye toll bridge in April 2018. All funds donated were then used to renovate Meghan Baker House in August 2018.

Since March 2020 we’ve offered pro-bono family law advice at Citizens Advice. This is in order to help families dealing with separation, relationship breakdown and Children Act matters, especially during or brought about by the pandemic.

In 2014, the Hereford office hosted a Fire and Ice Ball which raised £18,000 – this was donated to St Michael’s Hospice to help furnish four patient bedrooms in 2014. In 2018 we then hosted our Debenhams Christmas event in order to raise further funds.

In addition to the above, in the last 10 years, HCR has been award first the Silver and then the Gold award from the MOD as part of its Employer Recognition Scheme for our services to the Armed Forces Community.

Putting Hereford on the map

Our teams’ involvement in a variety of local and wider-reaching projects has definitely put Hereford on the map! A number of well-known businesses, landmarks and events have been given a helping hand – or even been created by – our teams in Hereford.

Lawyers in the defence, security and the forces team in Hereford were responsible for creating the Three Counties Defence and Security Expo. The event welcomed over 1,600 delegates and 130 exhibitors last year alone.

Our lawyers in the Hereford Office have also represented clients in the Court of Appeal and in the Supreme Court, setting case law.

HCR’s Hereford office has been the principal sponsor of the Hereford River Carnival for several years running. This free event is said to be Hereford’s biggest community event and celebrates the arts in Herefordshire.

Our Hereford lawyers have also been involved in various well known businesses, iconic landmarks, community organisations and infrastructure projects in Hereford including the Beefy Boys, The Left Bank, Hereford FC, the Hereford Enterprise Zone, Hereford BID, Greyhounds Rugby Club, and the Old Market, to name just a few.

Big names

It’s not all local, either! Lawyers from this office have worked with some household names, too. For example, our dispute resolution team handled the biggest case for the biggest client HCR ever had – Triumph v Primus for PCC Group.

Hereford’s employment team are amongst the team of lawyers retained by British Airways to deal with their employment tribunal litigation.

We’ve done a lot in 10 years, and we’re looking forward to accomplishing even more in the next 10!