National firm Weightmans today (26 May) announced a modest revenue increase of 2.5% for the 2014/15 financial year to £89.2m from £87m, demonstrating a slowing growth rate compared to last year.
The 2.5% boost demonstrates a slowing pace of growth compared to last year’s results when the firm enjoyed revenue growth of 6.6% across all business lines, with many practice areas exceeding annual targets. The firm took the opportunity of the increased revenues that year to reduce its debt from £9.6m to £3.5m, marking a fall of 64% while net profit came in at £24.1m.
The firm said it continued to ‘work hard to restrict its reliance upon external borrowing… and had the benefit of key lateral hires, winning new clients, and the increased performance management efficiencies encapsulated within their business transformation project, Springboard.’
On this year’s results, the firm’s managing partner John Schorah said: ‘This has been another positive year of growth and development for the firm. The figures demonstrate our firm wide commitment to providing a truly authentic exceptional client service is paying dividends. The growth of our client base is testament to the value we place on our client relationships, and the emphasis this has on our overall business strategy. I would like to thank everyone at Weightmans for their efforts and our clients for their continued support.’
Other national firms to release financials of late include Browne Jacobson, which, for the second year in a row, posted a rise in turnover of over 10% with the firm generating £58.9m in the 2014/15 financial year – up 17% from last year’s £50.2m.
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk
