EY, aka Ernst & Young, the global accountancy and professional services firm, has been granted a licence allowing it to provide legal services in England and Wales for what is called an “alternative business structure”. It is to recruit 30 people over the next six months.

EY, aka Ernst & Young, the global accountancy and professional services firm, has been granted a licence allowing it to provide legal services in England and Wales for what is called an “alternative business structure”. It is to recruit 30 people over the next six months.

The firm, which won the licence from the Solicitors Regulation Authority, says the move enables it to provide corporate, commercial, employment and financial services legal advice. It has appointed three UK partners, and the team will be led by Philip Goodstone and Matthew Kellett. Kellett will lead financial services, Goodstone will head up all other services and Daniel Aherne will build and lead the employment law team.

(A different legal system operates in Scotland.)

The new services will not put EY in competition with traditional law firms, it said.

“By working closely with other parts of the organization, clients will benefit from our global scale, in-depth industry knowledge as well as having a single point of contact for all of their professional service needs,” Steve Varley, UK chairman and regional managing director in UK and Ireland, said.

The move continues EY’s growth of its global law practice, which already has over 1,100 people in 60 locations. In the last 12 months, EY has also created legal teams in Mexico, Costa Rica, Singapore, China, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand, and will have a presence in more than 80 jurisdictions by 2017.