The Leeds office of law firm Irwin Mitchell has advised Christal Management, a specialist construction project management consultancy, on its sale to EC Harris.

Christal Management, which is based in Manchester and Paisley, will expand EC Harris’ capacity to meet increasing client demand in the North West of England and Scotland particularly in the retail, stadia and urban regeneration sectors.

Christal Management employs 32 project management experts who will be integrated into EC Harris’ Buildings team.  Its clients include British Land, Manchester University, Manchester City Football Club and Liverpool John Moores University.

Allan Hemphill, Managing Director at Christal Management said: “This is an exciting development for our clients and my team.  Our clients will continue to receive the personal service that we provide, and will now also have access to a greater pool of expertise that EC Harris and the wider ARCADIS business provides.  My team will join a business that has a long track record for excellent client service which will give them further opportunities to enhance their careers.”

Allan Hemphill will join the EC Harris partnership and take up a leadership position within EC Harris, particularly focusing on driving business expansion in Manchester.

Alan Brookes, UK CEO at EC Harris said: “We are very pleased to welcome the Christal Management team into our business.  As the UK economy continues to gain in strength, and we see increased political ambition to ensure further regional growth outside of London it is critical that we build capability to both target new clients and support existing national clients across the north of England and Scotland.   Christal will provide us with this capability and capacity as we continue to enjoy strong growth this year.”

Paul Johnson, Corporate Partner at Irwin Mitchell in Leeds along with Solicitor Liam Freeman advised Christal Management. Steve Hubbard from Baker Tilly in Leeds also advised the sellers.