Crane & Staples

What Crane & Staples does

Crane & Staples LLP is a private limited liability partnership and full-service law firm headquartered at Longcroft House, Fretherne Road, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, where it has operated continuously since 1938. The firm serves individuals, families and local businesses across Hertfordshire, the home counties and London through six core practice areas: Family and Children Law (including public law care proceedings and Resolution-accredited specialist work), Residential Property/Conveyancing, Wills, Trusts & Probate (will writing, probate administration, lasting powers of attorney, asset protection trusts, court of protection work and a professional executor service), Employment Law (for both employees and employers, including fixed-fee settlement agreement advice), Commercial Property, Commercial Dispute Resolution/Litigation, and general Dispute Resolution.

The firm operates on a traditional professional-services model with professional fees as the primary revenue stream, combining fixed fees for standardised services (e.g., family law initial interviews at £290–£375 inclusive of VAT, single Wills from £400 plus VAT, settlement agreement advice from £500–£750 plus VAT, and lasting powers of attorney from £550–£800 plus VAT) with hourly-rate billing for ongoing matters, alongside transparent upfront cost estimates. The technology stack consists of off-the-shelf legal and marketing tools — Perfect Portal for online conveyancing quoting and client onboarding, Moneypenny for live chat with visitor tracking, Microsoft Teams/Zoom/Skype for video consultations, Google Analytics 4 for web analytics, reCAPTCHA for spam protection, and embedded Review Solicitors widgets — with no proprietary AI or technology products. The firm is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA no. 656984) and holds Lexcel, Cyber Essentials Plus, Conveyancing Quality Scheme, and Wills & Inheritance Quality Scheme accreditations, with partners ranked in Legal 500, Chambers UK, and Chambers High Net Worth.

Go-to-market is sales-led and overwhelmingly referral-driven, with the firm stating that nearly 90% of work comes from existing clients, recommendations and referrals and that it pays no referral fees; client relationships span multiple generations, with many exceeding 40 years. Distribution relies on face-to-face office consultations, telephone, video calls, online fee estimators and live chat, supported by content marketing through podcasts and a news/blog channel, an organic social presence on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, community engagement in Hertfordshire, and third-party credibility from analyst rankings and SME business awards.

Name

Crane & Staples

Legal name

Crane & Staples LLP

Website

https://crane-staples.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1938

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Crane & Staples LLP is an independent, full-service UK law firm founded in 1938 in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, serving individuals, families and local businesses across family law, residential conveyancing, wills and probate, employment, commercial property and dispute resolution, with nearly 90% of work sourced via referrals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (54111)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Family & Private Client (Trusts & Estates) Law (BPAHAAAK)

Keywords

• Legal advisory services
• Residential conveyancing
• Wills and probate
• Family law solicitors
• Employment law advice

Headquarters

HQ city

Welwyn Garden City

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Professional Fees: Crane & Staples generates revenue through professional legal fees charged for services across multiple practice areas including Family Law, Residential Property, Wills/Trusts/Probate, Commercial Property, Employment Law, and Dispute Resolution. Fee structures include fixed fees for certain services (initial consultations, Wills, LPAs), hourly rates for ongoing matters, and transparent cost information provided at the outset of each matter.
2. Settlement Agreement Legal Advice: Fixed fee services for reviewing, advising on, and negotiating settlement agreements for employees. Fees range from £500-£750 plus VAT depending on complexity.
3. Will Writing Services: Fixed fee Will writing services: Single Will from £400 plus VAT, Mirror Wills from £550 plus VAT. Includes Will registration with Certainty National Will Register and storage options.
4. Lasting Power of Attorney Services: Fixed fee LPA services: One LPA from £550 plus VAT, Two LPAs from £650 plus VAT, Four LPAs from £800 plus VAT. Additional court registration fee of £82 per document.
5. Family Law Consultation: Initial interview at fixed rate of £290-£375 inclusive of VAT for family law matters, providing detailed cost estimates.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Crane & Staples is an independent UK law firm providing expert legal advice and representation to individuals, families, and businesses across six core practice areas: Family and Children Law, Residential Property (Conveyancing), Wills, Trusts and Probate, Commercial Property, Employment Law (for employees and employers), and Dispute Resolution. Services are delivered through direct office consultations, telephone, and video (Zoom/Teams/Skype) with transparent fixed-fee and hourly pricing structures.

Product overview

Crane & Staples is a law firm offering comprehensive legal services through multiple interconnected practice areas. The core service portfolio includes Family and Children Law (divorce, children matters, domestic abuse), Residential Property/Conveyancing, Wills, Trusts & Probate (including will writing, probate administration, lasting powers of attorney, and asset protection), Employment Law (for both employees and employers), Commercial Property, Commercial Dispute Resolution, Commercial Law, and Dispute Resolution. The Wills, Trusts & Probate department offers sub-services including Probate, Lasting Power of Attorney, Asset Protection & Trusts, and Disputes After Death. The Employment department provides Settlement Agreements as a sub-service. The Family department includes Care Proceedings (public law) as a sub-service. The firm also offers a Professional Executor Service. Services are delivered through their office in Welwyn Garden City with options for in-person, telephone, and video consultations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 90% of work comes from existing clients, recommendations and referrals
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Perfect PortalcoreTechnology or IntegrationPerfect Portal is a legal technology platform that provides conveyancing quote calculators and client onboarding tools for law firms. The firm uses Perfect Portal to track version of quote calculator and enable online fee estimates for residential property services.
• MoneypennycoreTechnology or IntegrationMoneypenny provides live chat services including visitor history tracking, chat transcripts, referral source recording, and visitor frequency tracking. Stores visitor name and email for chat pre-population.
• Google AnalyticssupportingTechnology or IntegrationGoogle Analytics 4 is used to understand how visitors use the website, measuring visits, sessions and general site performance through first-party cookies.
• Review SolicitorscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerReview Solicitors provides an embedded widget on the website to track referrals and activity from the firm's profile on their platform, displaying client reviews and testimonials.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Mishcon de Reya LLP: Mishcon de Reya is a major London-headquartered full-service law firm with established private client, family, employment, and dispute resolution practices serving HNW and corporate clients. As a much larger, multi-department incumbent with overlapping practice areas, it represents the broad-incumbent competitor Crane & Staples benchmarks against at the upper end of its market.
• Stewarts Law LLP: Stewarts Law is a London-based law firm with leading practices in private client, family, and dispute resolution. It serves as a broad incumbent comparator for Crane & Staples on HNW family law and dispute resolution mandates, although its scale and litigation focus make it more specialized in disputes.

Direct peers

• Boodle Hatfield LLP: Boodle Hatfield is a London private client law firm specializing in wills, trusts, probate, family, and residential property for high-net-worth clients. Its STEP-accredited private client focus and HNW orientation make it a direct comparator to Crane & Staples' Wills, Trusts & Probate and family law practice.
• Tees Law: Tees Law is an East of England-based regional law firm offering comparable full-service practice areas including family law, wills/trusts/probate, residential and commercial property, employment, and dispute resolution across multiple offices. Like Crane & Staples, it serves individuals, families, and regional businesses with a relationship-driven model and similar mid-market positioning.
• Cripps LLP: Cripps is a South East England law firm with comparable practice mix including family law, residential property, wills/trusts/probate, employment, and commercial property. Its regional footprint and full-service individual/business split directly mirror Crane & Staples' positioning in the Hertfordshire/home counties market.
• Birketts LLP: Birketts is an East of England regional law firm with strong private client, family, employment, and commercial property practices serving individuals and businesses. Its mid-market, multi-office regional structure and full-service individual/family focus make it directly comparable to Crane & Staples' profile.
• Howes Percival LLP: Howes Percival is an East of England/Midlands regional law firm with comparable full-service practice areas covering family, residential property, wills/trusts/probate, employment, and dispute resolution for individuals and businesses. Its regional, multi-office model is directly analogous to Crane & Staples.
• Forsters LLP: Forsters is a London-based private client law firm renowned for its private wealth, family, and residential property practices serving high-net-worth individuals and families. It is directly comparable to Crane & Staples on its HNW private client and family law service lines and Chambers HNW credentials.
• Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP: Penningtons Manches Cooper is a UK national law firm with strong private client, family, and residential property practices serving HNW individuals and families. Its full-service individual client offering across multiple offices is comparable to Crane & Staples' practice mix.

Emerging players

• Co-op Legal Services: Co-op Legal Services is a UK-wide provider of wills, probate, estate administration, and family law services with a digital, fixed-fee delivery model. It competes directly with Crane & Staples' entry-tier will writing, LPA, and probate offerings through price-led, technology-enabled service, representing the emerging digital-law-firm threat to mid-market private client work.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/cranestaples
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/crane-staples
• Instagraminstagram.com/cranestaples

Compliance13 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Crane & Staples