The strain of macroeconomic conditions on UK firms is starting to show, as the immediate impact of last year’s Brexit vote meant many firms experienced a slow summer and a dip in confidence that carried on for many until the end of 2016 and even into the new year with the triggering of article 50 in March.
This uncertainty is reflected in some individual and regional results for this year’s Legal Business 100 (LB100). However, overall figures look strong. There are 31 non-City firms in the 51-100 bracket, compared to 19 London firms, with a combined revenue of £1.26bn, up 11% on last year’s £1.14bn. The number of regional firms in the bottom 50 has increased by one: a new entrant comes in the form of Scots insurance litigation firm Digby Brown, which has total revenues of £27.3m, while national firm Thompsons has dropped a few places this year to enter the bottom half of the table.