Our History

Timeline 1995 - 2019

• 1995
  • HGF is founded with offices in Leeds and Manchester

    HGF launches in Leeds opening a second office later that year in Manchester as the firm’s client base begins to grow.

• 2000
  • HGF Sheffield office opens

    HGF acquires the patent practice of DLA Piper strengthening its Leeds and Manchester offices by acquiring a new office in Sheffield.

• 2001
  • HGF York office opens

    This completes HGF’s offering in the Yorkshire and North-East regions of the UK.

• 2002
  • HGF acquires Brewer & Sons, London

    Brewer & Sons provided a launch pad for HGF’s London business. Brewer & Sons came with a wonderful history including patenting the Wright Brothers aeroplane, the Whittle jet engine, Barnes-Wallis’s Bouncing Bomb and Concorde.

  • HGF’s sister law firm, Sanderson Lumber, is launched (now HGF Law)

    HGF creates a one-stop-shop IP law group with the launch of its specialist law firm, Sanderson Lumber (now HGF Law).

• 2004
  • Sanderson Lumber London office opens

    Sanderson Lumber (now HGF Law) was brought to London to support our growing South East client base.

• 2007
  • HGF Glasgow office opens

    HGF's first Scottish office opens in Glasgow expanding HGF’s offering beyond the jurisdiction of England & Wales into Scotland, in so doing becoming only the third firm in the UK offering such cross-border jurisdictional advice.

• 2009
  • HGF Manchester office is expanded

    Our Manchester office expanded in response to a growing media tech community in the city and surrounding area. Today the office boasts the largest biotech team in the region.

• 2010
  • HGF Sheffield office is expanded

    Our Sheffield office has experienced continued growth over the past decade, and this latest expansion is a result of the hard work and dedication of our specialist teams.

• 2011
  • HGF Glasgow office is expanded

    Glasgow represents innovative SMEs and universities, both groups of which have been expanding rapidly - allowing our own offices to grow and develop alongside them.

  • HGF York office is expanded

    HGF's York office serves the North Yorkshire area and focuses on a wide range of practises from electronics to life sciences - and as the city becomes more innovative our office has expanded to accommodate for our growing client base.

  • HGF Aberdeen office opens

    HGF Aberdeen is opened in response to demand from North Sea Oil & Gas clients.

• 2012
  • HGF Edinburgh office opens

    Following on from the success of our Glasgow and, more recently, our Aberdeen offices, HGF opened an Edinburgh office in early 2012 to provide a base for servicing the many companies and universities we act for in the east coast area.

  • HGF Oxford office opens

    Situated in the Oxford Science Park, our HGF Oxford office is perfectly placed to work with the city's universities and businesses, particularly in the chemistry and life science industries.

  • HGF London office is expanded

    HGF London moved to larger offices to make room for more staff as our business in the capital increased.

  • HGF Birmingham office opens

    Our relatively new Birmingham office was set up to provide services to clients based in the Midlands, with teams specialising in engineering, chemical fields, trade marks as well as providing a liaison with experts across the company.

• 2013
  • HGF acquires Grant Spencer, London

    Trade mark specialist firm Grant Spencer was acquired by HGF as part of a move to expand our expertise and provide a more efficient trade mark service to clients across all offices.

  • HGF Law Manchester office opens

    HGF Law joined our existing teams in Manchester to ensure we could provide a fully integrated law and IP service in the North West.

• 2014
  • HGF LLP becomes a Limited company

    With effect from 1st May 2014 HGF LLP become a Limited company.

• 2015
  • HGF The Hague office opens

    In September 2015 HGF opened their first office outside of the UK.

  • HGF Birmingham office is expanded

    Our Birmingham office has experienced continued growth, and this latest expansion is a result of the hard work and dedication of our specialist teams.

• 2016
  • HGF Basel office opens

    In February 2016 HGF opened their second office outside of the UK.

  • HGF Law Birmingham office opens

    HGF Law joined our existing teams in Birmingham to ensure we could provide a fully integrated law and IP service in the West Midlands.

  • HGF Newcastle office opens

    Following on from the success of our York office, HGF opened a Newcastle satellite office on May 2nd 2016 to provide a base for servicing the many companies and universities we act for in the North East area.

• 2017
  • HGF Amsterdam office opens

    HGF continues its European expansion opening it's 14th office. The Amsterdam office launched in January 2017 is the 3rd office in Europe alongside The Hague and Basel.

• 2018
  • HGF Nottingham office opens

    2nd January 2018 HGF continues its expansion opening its 15th office located in Nottingham.

  • HGF Westport office opens

    On 8th May 2018 HGF opened it's first office in Ireland, in the town of Westport. It is HGF's 16th office opening.

• 2019
  • HGF merges with Patronus IP, Germany

    HGF and Patronus IP merge their businesses into a new partnership within the HGF Group called 'HGF Europe LLP‘ operating in both Germany and Austria.