OXFORD-BASED independent commercial property firm Meeson Williams Phillips has been acquired by national property consultancy Bidwells.

The nine-strong Meeson Williams Phillips team moved into Bidwells’ offices in Seacourt Tower, Botley, this week and is now operating under the Bidwells banner.

MWP, which specialises in the science, digital and engineering sectors, acts as agents on 10 business and science parks in Oxfordshire for clients including Blenheim Estates and Jennings.

It marketed the Harwell campus, near Didcot, with clients such as Oxford Gene Technology and Oxford University Press.

Other Meeson Williams Phillips clients include Dominos, Gordon Ramsay Group and Pizza Express across the UK.

Bidwells, which employs 500 people at offices in Milton Keynes, Cambridge and London, has been expanding its Oxford base in the past 12 months, recruiting 17 new staff.

It advises 12 Oxford colleges, the University of Oxford and businesses and land owners in the area.

Bidwells also focuses on science and academia, having worked on the Cambridge Science Park for Trinity College since the1970s. Other Bidwells clients include Whitbread, Mitchells & Butler, Marstons, Lidl and Tesco.

Richard Skeates, head of Bidwells Oxford, said the merger is part of the firm’s focus on the so-called golden triangle of Oxford, Cambridge and London.

He said: “Meeson Williams Phillips is at the heart of Oxfordshire’s economic growth. Joining forces will not only benefit our clients in terms of access to more senior commercial and planning counsel but it will also help us play a part in helping Oxford’s business community achieve its goals.”