Menzies joins Escalate dispute resolution platform

Award-winning accountancy firm Menzies has become the latest leading professional services business to join Escalate, the ground-breaking commercial dispute resolution process for SMEs.

Menzies has offices in Surrey, Hampshire, London and Cardiff. This further strengthens Escalate’s geographic footprint in the south of England, and extends Escalate’s reach with an on-the-ground presence in Wales.

Escalate helps SMEs to achieve a prompt settlement to a wide range of commercial disputes, with fixed fees payable only on a successful outcome and no upfront costs. The Escalate process was recognised as ‘Innovation of the Year’ at the prestigious British Accountancy Awards in 2017, and has also recently been shortlisted for the Legal Week Innovation Awards.

Chris Clay, Managing Director of Escalate, said: “We’re pleased to be working with forward-thinking advisers like Menzies in order to give SMEs even greater access to the Escalate dispute resolution process.

“Partnering with Menzies is a sign both of the progress that we’ve made since we launched last year and an indication of our ambitions for the future.

“We’re already helping SMEs to recover more than £15 million that is currently locked up in commercial disputes, and we’re only just getting started.”

Simon Underwood, Partner at Menzies, said: “Escalate is seeing considerable demand from SMEs, and it’s not hard to see why. The traditional dispute resolution model has been broken and heavily stacked against claimants for a long time, yet nobody has tried to fix it – until now.

“Menzies has an enviable track record of embracing innovation in order to benefit our clients, and partnering with Escalate is an obvious step for us.

“By removing financial risk, providing transparency on process and pricing, and ensuring that the claimant remains the main beneficiary on settlement, Escalate gives our clients an opportunity to resolve their disputes in a way that helps rather than hinders their cashflow. Escalate provides SMEs with an innovative means of securing the resources they need to survive and grow, and I have no doubt that our clients will benefit considerably from having access to it.”