Nabarro has increased turnover by 3.5% to £130.4m, joining other mid-market firms with muted results for 2015/16. Last year the firm posted an 8% revenue rise to £126m, its biggest rise in more than a decade.
While preliminary figures show profit per equity partner (PEP) will be up by 1.7% to £586,000, the firm had posted a double-digit PEP rise this time last year.
Nabarro senior partner Ciaran Carvalho told Legal Business the firm had continued building on three years of major growth.
‘This is our fourth year of growth in a row and we have had some really significant growth in the last three years. This year in addition to continuing to grow we have invested quite significantly in promotions, with five internal promotions and ten lateral hires across our offices in the UK, Dubai and Singapore.’
Carvalho (pictured) said the firm had also made investments to plan for future challenges, having restructured its management functions by appointing Shiree Murdoch as chief operating officer in May and hiring Graeme Wood as director for change.
‘This is part of our change strategy to make sure we are at the leading edge and thinking hard about how we deliver legal services,’ said Carvalho.
The shake-up of management roles has also allowed Carvalho to keep a more client facing role, keeping him working in the market.
The year has seen Nabarro win new clients including BP and eBay, and places on major panels such as Land Securities.
The firm’s Manchester office, formed 18 months ago with a trio of Addleshaw Goddard real estate partners, has grown to 30 staff and has since acted on more than £1bn of corporate and property transactions.
Carvalho said: ‘We feel we’ve had a decent year, we’ve made some investments, we’ve set ourselves up for the future, and we’ve increased our profits.’
However, Carvalho noted there had been some slowdown in transactions as a result of the EU referendum and the Brexit result: ‘Some of our clients have chosen to take stock for now, but that’s by no means all clients, many in private equity and overseas investors have seen this as a great opportunity.’
While growth for Nabarro remains steady, it has fallen behind Watson Farley & Williams which reported revenue growth of 5%, up to £131.2m. Meanwhile, insurance specialist Kennedys announced a solid turnover boost of 7% earlier this month, up to £138.8m.
matthew.field@legalease.co.uk