There may be over 4000 employment lawyers in the UK, but there are only are 170 national law firms focusing around 2400 solicitors and fee earners on employment law services for UK business as a core service nationally. There are also 170+ consultancy businesses doing so now too. They each have their strengths and weaknesses, and this report highlights how this market now works, how it will perform to 2020, and more importantly what GCs expect from it irrespective of who is supplying it.

For law firms - is version 1.0 of client marketing enough any more, or will version 5.0 deliver now? Having the best people may no longer be enough and the Who?s Who guides take you only so far. Segmenting clients by size and type is key, and this report shows the competitive dynamics involved at each level. What are the 20+ firms who just do employment law up to now? How successful are law firms at delivering HR consulting solutions too? Why are Irwin Mitchell and others tackling the regulatory consultancy market head on now? And how should it be done?

From the core market economics to what GCs will and won?t outsource - and all points in between - the competitive axes in play are spelt out in detail. The 5 key issues (and the components of them) behind a commercial employment law service are examined in rigorous detail. This then informs assessing what to do next with the content marketing strategies, whether to bring an HR function in-house, what the critical mass is for a national team, the role of IT and many more questions are addressed. It need not be a matter of matching the millions behind teams like Riverview, but you do have to know how to play it smartly. This is the evidence you need to make your choices - all based on hard economic facts. Comparative corporate finance approaches to investment are clarified so you can see how steep the hill could be for your chosen strategy.

Summarising 70 of the leading players in terms of their market share from 1995 and projected to 2020, you can see at a glance how the main consulting players are doing too. Unique market share charts covering decade of performance for suppliers show who is struggling, who?s just swimming with the tide and who?s setting the pace. Dismiss these challengers at your peril, they are already represented on some of the major blue chip legal panels and they want more.

Every supplier is listed and click throughs from logos and innovative infographics enable GCs and purchasers of employment law services to assess each supplier directly.

This major Report is comprehensive and full of surprises - the largest employment law specialist is no longer a law firm - 9 of the top 20 suppliers are consultancies, not law firm Big brands... Perhaps most important of all: it really is no longer an "Us v Them" choice in the mind of even professional buyers any more - GCs are as likely to buy from a consultancy as a law firm now. The costs of market entry also favour the innovators - be they solicitor led or not - with teams like 3HR, Capital People, HCR, Law at Work, Outset and rRadar showing how its done and done well. The market segment for teams doing employment law only is identified, quantified and key metrics established.

This is indispensable reading for any legal services team looking at developing in employment law. The evidence bundle for your strategic away day - all of the key issues for teams managing a future in employment law are critically examined and the evidence presented.

Then it is your call - we can't promise you more sales, but we can level the playing field, and we can certainly save you a vast amount of time in collating the facts you need to make your plays effective and lasting.

Employment Tribunal list and fee changes hit law firms hard too. On top of PI business dwindling, it has made the more commercial firms redirect. To help you up your game - get your copy of this Report today.