Our History

In 1901 William Henry Coupe began trading as a solicitor from the upstairs floor of 12 Lune Street in Preston.

Shortly after the First World War, in around 1919, William Harrison joined Mr Coupe forming the firm Coupe & Harrison.

In 1952 the firm went through a period of transformation with the arrival of Thomas Waterworth Drury. The firm changed its name to Coupe Harrison & Drury and later to Harrison Drury & Co following Mr Coupe’s departure from the practice. Mr Drury made a number of appointments expanding the business rapidly and focusing on property conveyancing.

When Mr Harrison passed away in 1954 the business continued to operate, for a short time, from the upper floors of 10-12 Lune Street until Mr Drury seized the opportunity to acquire 3 Fleet Street, Preston, which had formerly been owned by Palmer & Harvey as a Confectionery and Tobacco warehouse. Before that, 3 Fleet Street was a corn mill, and in the 19th Century was ideally located near to the Corn Exchange and on the bank of the canal terminus which has since been filled in to form Fleet Street.

By the time Mr Drury passed away in December 1967, he had invested heavily into 3 Fleet Street and the practice in general. In 1968 John James Moorby joined the practice and its name was changed to Harrison Drury & Moorby.

In 1973 a youthful John Edmund Starkie joined the firm as an assistant, becoming a partner in 1974. Mr Starkie began to develop the firm’s litigation expertise, building on the long-established conveyancing, wills and probate departments.

In 1981 the departure of Mr Moorby saw the firm’s name revert to Harrison Drury & Co which it remains to this day.

The modern-day firm provides a range of legal services for businesses and private individuals including commercial property services, commercial dispute resolution, business sales and purchases, residential conveyancing, civil litigation, family law, employment law, and wills and probate.

A new stage in the firm’s development

In 2007, John Chesworth joined the firm to develop and promote its services for the business community and in April 2007 he was appointed managing partner, marking a new stage in the firm’s development and direction. In 2010 Harrison Drury became an incorporated business and started extending its geographical reach, opening a Garstang office, making a commitment to providing clients with local access to the best legal advice for both businesses and individuals.

The firm continued to grow and in 2012 Harrison Drury moved its head-quarters to new offices in Chapel Street, Preston, putting the firm at the heart of the city’s professional quarter in Winckley Square.

A period of rapid growth

In 2013, the firm expanded into Cumbria with the opening of an office in Kendal to serve businesses and individuals in the South Lakes area and further afield in the county.

At the beginning of 2014, the firm expanded yet again by opening an office in Lancaster, to offer a full range of commercial legal services to local businesses and taking the number of Harrison Drury offices to four.

That was soon increased to five, as 2014 ended with further expansion for Harrison Drury with a new office opening up in the east Lancashire town of Clitheroe.

Attracting and retaining some of the best legal talent in the North West

In 2016 Harrison Drury was delighted to be recognised in The Sunday Times Top 100 Small Companies to work for the first time, demonstrating it’s commitment to attracting, developing and retaining outstanding legal talent.

In 2017 the firm continued to grow, opening a second office in Preston as well as merging with Clitheroe Law Firm – Chenery Maher Solcitors and once again placing as one of the Top Small Businesses to Work For in the UK.

Covid and Recovery

Like the rest of society Harrison Drury needed to act quickly when the Covid Pandemic struck. Due to our advanced Cloud IT system, we were able to set staff members up for home working within 24 hours of the decision to close all offices. After navigating the first full lockdown, our offices re-opened and the firm re-focussed its vision and mission, aiming to be the best law firm to work for in the North-West of England.

In 2022 the firm was able to continue with its commitment to providing clients with top quality lawyers in locations across the North West of England and opened an office in Lytham giving it a presence on the Fylde coast.

Recognising that post-pandemic, clients were seeking close working relationships with lawyers they can trust as an extension of their own teams and that Harrison Drury were increasingly seeing businesses from Manchester choosing to instruct their team of accessible, friendly and professional experts, the time was right to fulfil a long-held objective to open an office in Manchester at the end of 2023. This has given the firm a truly regional presence to boost our corporate offering and growth in the time since opening the office has been exponential with the team in Manchester growing month on month. Demonstrating that the firm’s growth had supported its drive to make Harrison Drury a better place to work, the firm was recognised in the Best Companies top 100 Mid-sized firms to work for in 2023.

From 2007 to 2024, the firm has increased from one office to seven and from twelve people to over one hundred and fifty. This has given us the capability to fully serve our business clients while also providing top quality legal services to those moving house, dealing with family matters and planning and administering estates. The firm maintains its commitment to its presence in local markets, supporting clients from as far North as Cumbria and across Lancashire and into Manchester, and providing both people and businesses with access to high quality specialist lawyers they can trust to look after their legal needs.

Harrison Drury now offers the full range of legal services to clients with team members specialising in distinct and defined areas of law, meaning clients benefit from a legal team who can work closely as a cohesive unit in the delivery of advice whilst assuring the highest levels of knowledge and advice are provided in each area as team members have their fingers on the pulse of the latest legal and sector developments on a day to day basis.