Dentons posts solid 2023-24 financial results showing UK, Ireland and Middle East regional revenue up 6% after slight dip last year
Following last year’s deceleration, Dentons’ UK, Ireland, and Middle East (UKIME) business has regained momentum, reporting a 6% increase in revenue. For the year ending 30 April 2024, revenues reached £280.5m, up from £265.1m the previous year.
Paul Jarvis (pictured), reappointed UKIME CEO for his second three-year term this year, discussed the results with Legal Business. ‘In the UK, Ireland and Middle East region, we closed the last financial year with significantly more major clients generating higher billings across multiple practice areas and an increased number of geographies compared to the previous 12 months’, he said.
He added: ‘These clients include large retailers, media companies, transport businesses, financial services providers, funds and leading names in the energy industry, all of whom are served by at least three teams across the investment areas in our strategy.’
In his first term, Jarvis launched Dentons’ five-year UKIME strategy, built around three pillars: ‘Golden Thread’ focuses on within-firm integration, ‘Global Presence’ focuses on leveraging the firm’s global reach, and ‘Client Uplift’ focuses on investing in client relationships through innovation, tech, pricing, and delivery.
In the UK, which was described by Jarvis as ‘among the key beneficiaries of the Golden Thread and Global Presence pillars of our strategy’, the disputes and regulatory division saw a 15% increase in revenue. This growth reflected investments made over the past three years and was driven by high-profile cases including the successful defence of a £63m claim for alleged breach of confidence by PwC.
Ireland also performed strongly, with an 18% increase in revenue, driven mainly by its corporate practice. The Middle East experienced notable growth at 22%, with Saudi Arabia leading with 35% revenue growth.
‘Across the wider Middle East region, market activity has accelerated and many of our practice areas grew their market share, which contributed to the last financial year’s growth and is a trend we expect to continue’, said Jarvis. On Dublin, he added: ‘With the city expected to remain an important hub for many large international corporate and institutional clients, we expect to continue to gain from Ireland’s attractiveness as a place to do business and to attract more major talent.’
On the talent front, Dentons reported 12 new partner promotions in its latest round. This, along with nine lateral partner hires earlier in the year, contributed to a total of 70 new partners in the UKIME region over the past three years.
Recent additions include Laura Whyatt, a contentious competition lawyer from Willkie Farr & Gallagher who joined the London office in May; Stephen McKenna and Ross Barfoot, who moved from Clyde & Co to the Abu Dhabi corporate practice in February; and Susan Doris-Obando, appointed as a partner in the people, reward, and mobility team in Dublin, also in February.
Jarvis said: ‘We have seen the benefits that top talent can bring to our firm, so we will continue to invest in promoting and developing our people and in demonstrating the power our platform can have for lateral talent.’
The results come as Dentons has appointed Kate Barton from EY as its new global CEO, starting 10 November. She will succeed Elliott Portnoy, who has served held the role since the firm’s rebranding following the $1bn merger of SNR Denton, French firm Salans, and Canada’s Fraser Milner Casgrain in 2013.
Looking ahead, Jarvis expressed confidence: ‘We are optimistic for another strong financial year as our investments in our clients, our people and innovation continue to pay off.’