Financial news

saying no, not happy

Clients don’t care about your PEP

PEP has long been a marker for firms of profitability, efficiency, even excellency. Firms brandish them as badges of honour and headlines report on them every year. PEP up! PEP down! Firm bucks trends as PEP rises amid economic downturn! The obsession is rife, and has long been thought to showcase how well a firm […]

Boodle Hatfield bulks up workforce after HMRC tax changes

Boodle Hatfield has joined a raft of firms that have confirmed they will be switching their financial year-end to 31 March due to HMRC’s new tax rules, joining Mishcon de Reya, Macfarlanes, Burness Paul and Weightmans. The new rules will cause administrative headaches for finance teams as they enable HMRC to tax a business’ profits in the […]

Trowers’ borrowings double to finance investments

Trowers & Hamlins has increased borrowings from £6m to £11.3m to finance necessary investments to ensure it can remain independent. The senior leadership team told The Lawyer it wants to grow to retain and attract the best talent, but that it is not looking at a merger. The firm has instead been investing in new […]

James Knight, Keystone Law

Keystone’s turnover jumps 15 per cent over H1

Keystone Law’s turnover is up 14.9 per cent at the half-year point, while adjusted profit has risen by 25.2 per cent. The turnover increase meant Keystone made £42.3m in the last six months, compared to £36.8m this time last year.  Adjusted profit per tax reached £5.7m. Speaking to The Lawyer, CEO James Knight said he was […]

Scotland flag

Fast Financials: Not all Scot firms need mergers

As tie-ups continue apace in the Scottish legal market, there are still a few staunch independents that have all reported revenue rises over 2022/23. We dig a little deeper into their progress. Burness Paull and Shepherd & Wedderburn are among the firms to have reported revenue growth in the past financial year, with both steering […]

Fast financials: Slaughters’ so-so year

Slaughters’ so-so year Ever the mystery – and ever staying clear of LLP status – Slaughter and May has its financials estimated for The Lawyer’s UK200. It’s the only top 50 firm we do this for, although the same will have to happen next year for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which said it would not release […]

Irwin Mitchell plots more office launches – despite profit plunge

Profit before tax at Irwin Mitchell dropped 29 per cent after an investment-heavy year, but the firm says it is still on the look-out for acquisitions and office openings. The firm’s group profit before tax dropped from £21.2m to £15m, while group revenue at Irwin Mitchell is up marginally by 0.3 per cent from £275.7m […]

Falling down arrow

Stewarts top of equity plunges by over 50 per cent

The equity spread at Stewarts over the last financial year has significantly dropped at both ends, with partners at the lower end of the scale seeing profits fall by 67 per cent. Stewarts top-earner earnings also dropped from £3.4m to £1.6m, while the lower end of the rung fell from £1.8m to £592,335. This means […]

Fast Financials: IPOs are out; private equity investment is in

House of Brands copycats stalk Shakespeares’ strategy Shakespeare Martineau is a bit complicated to describe these days. It’s now the largest constituent part of Ampa, a ‘House of Brands’ which also includes South East firm Mayo Wynne Baxter and a bunch of other legal and non-legal services. All partners are members of Ampa’s equity rather […]

Mills & Reeve dishes out best bonus yet as revenue hits all-time high

Mills & Reeve has paid its staff its highest-ever all-staff bonus as a result of the firm’s turnover reaching a record high of £147m in the 2022/23 financial year. The bonus staff receive is determined by length of service and pro-rated for people who either work part-time or joined the firm part way through the […]

“Tough year” at CMS as PEP drops below £1m

CMS’s UK profit per equity partner (PEP) has dropped below £1m after it surpassed the milestone for the first time in the 2021/22 financial year. The firm reported a £1.04m UK PEP in the previous financial year, which has since dropped by 6 per cent to £977,963. CMS’s UK net profit has also suffered, decreasing 3.7 […]