Butcher & Barlow are a highly respected and approachable firm of Solicitors with over 130 years of experience. We have 12 offices throughout North Manchester and Cheshire and we pride ourselves on being a law firm with local connections but the size to provide an approachable expert in every field.
The present Senior Partner is Charles Barlow, great-grandson of one of the founders, John Woodward Barlow who opened an office in Bury, Lancashire, with Samuel Foster Butcher in 1887.
John Woodward Barlow and Samuel Foster Butcher were eminently well-known men of Bury in the last two decades of the 19th Century and the first two decades of the 20th Century. They acted for many of the large industrial concerns in Bury and the surrounding area and for the families involved in those industries.
J W Barlow was well-known in Unitarian circles, was Clerk to the former Ramsbottom Urban District Council and was energetically involved in the former Ramsbottom Cottage Hospital before the introduction of the National Health Service. S F Butcher was County Coroner for Bury and the surrounding area. When he died the Coronership passed to Colonel R Maxwell Barlow who held this office from 1932 to 1972.
Both families had distinguished records of military service in the First World War. R M Barlow and R W Butcher were commissioned in the Lancashire Fusiliers and both were awarded the Military Cross and R M Barlow subsequently became Colonel of the Regiment.
The offices in Bury remain our Head Office, which has expanded considerably over the years. The Lancashire offices are in Bury, Leigh, Prestwich and Tyldesley. The Cheshire offices are in Bramhall, Frodsham, Northwich, Runcorn and Sandbach.
Over the years, the Firm has taken over a number of practices including Platt Bodden & Co. (Manchester), Taberners (Leigh & Tyldesley), J L Cottrell & Co. (Northwich and Runcorn), Rigby Stringer & Holmes (Sandbach), Taylor Kirkman & Mainprice (Bramhall), Hough & Co. (Runcorn and Frodsham), Howard Maitland and most recently Salt Veeder (Bury).
Although we have our roots on the high street we have always had a strong commercial client base. In 2014 we opened a dedicated Commercial and Agricultural office on Gadbrook Park, Northwich. By having a dedicated office for the two departments we are able to harness the skill and expertise of our solicitors in one office and provide a focused team that can provide advice and assistance on commercial and agricultural matters in a professional, business centred setting.
October 2015 saw the Head Office occupying the whole of Bank Street for the first time since the Second World War. The office at number 8 Bank Street has been incorporated in to the rest of the building to house the relocated Family Department along with the expanded Cashiers and Conveyancing Departments. There are now nearly 50 members of staff working from the Head Office, and 160 staff across the firm.