Skip to main content

Our History

Family Legal Ltd grew out of a single family mediation business. The group as it stands today was built one brand at a time, over more than a decade.

Mediate UK came first. Moving mediation online extended that service beyond its original local area. Local mediation brands followed, then Family Law Service, then the free information and support brands. Family Legal Ltd was incorporated later, as the company that holds and supports the group.

  1. 2011

    Family mediation begins

    Mediate UK and Surrey Mediation Service began providing family mediation in October 2011. Both services started with the same idea: that most separating families reach a better outcome by talking than by litigating.

  2. 2022

    National recognition for client service

    The mediation service won Gold for Customer Service at the UK Business Awards in 2022, and was named Overall Winner in the same year.

  3. 2025

    Family Legal Ltd is incorporated

    Family Legal Ltd was incorporated in May 2025 to act as the covering company for every brand in the group. Company number 16431127 sits behind each of those brands, and the contracts, insurance and registrations are held in one place.

  4. 2025

    London Mediation Service launches

    London Mediation Service launched in July 2025 as the dedicated London arm of Mediate UK, with in person appointments at Waterloo, St Pancras and Sutton.

  5. 2025

    Best Company Culture at the BizX Awards

    Mediate UK won Best Company Culture at the BizX Awards in 2025. Jess Knauf collected the award on behalf of the team.

  6. 2025

    Family Law Service launches

    Family Law Service launched in November 2025, co-founded by Jess Knauf, to sit between full solicitor representation and self-representation with a published price for every piece of work.

  7. 2026

    The Divorce Circle launches

    The Divorce Circle launched in January 2026 as a free support resource for the emotional side of separation, with plain English guides, free calculators and a peer community.

  8. 2026

    The specialist and support brands launch

    Through 2026 Family Legal Ltd launched the specialist and support brands that now make up most of the group: MIAM UK, C100 Form, ConsentOrder.org.uk, childmaintenance.org.uk, Mediation Guide, Kids and Divorce, Maypole, From Dads to Dads, Mediation Dorset and Bristol Mediation Services.

    Each brand answers one question well, rather than asking a separating family to work out which part of a large website applies to them.

  9. 2026

    Mediate UK reaches fifteen years

    Mediate UK marks fifteen years of family mediation on 6 October 2026, and the group marks it with a full year of events and offers.

Where the company is going

The pattern of the last decade has been the same each time: find a part of separation that people struggle to understand or afford, and build something that addresses it. That is what the newer platforms in the portfolio are for, and it is how the group will keep growing.

See the brands in the portfolio