National firm Shoosmiths has posted a 9% rise in revenue from £107m to £116.7m, but profit per equity partner (PEP) at the firm has remained flat at £366,000.
Overall profit at the firm was up 17% to £29.38m, but the firm increased the number of full equity partners from 36 to 41, an increase of 14%.
Shoosmiths chief executive Claire Rowe (pictured) said that income in the corporate practice grew by 14%, while commercial and private client also performed well.
‘Deal flow was quiet over the summer months, but our corporate team certainly bucked the trend in terms of the sheer volume of deals that they completed over the course of the year. Our restructuring and insolvency team also had a really strong year. Elsewhere, we had strong growth in the private client team that was largely in clinical negligence and family matters – reflecting our investment in previous years,’ she said.
Over the last year, the firm has expanded by opening offices in Northern Ireland and Leeds, bringing the total number of UK offices to 12.
In July 2016, for the firm’s Leeds opening, it hired an employment duo from Yorkshire-based Gordons, as part of an ongoing strategy to increase its UK legal market share.
Last December, Shoosmiths confirmed plans to merge with Belfast firm McManus Kearney, taking on the firms two partners Mark Frances Kearney and Jason Bryne and 14 staff. Shoosmiths saw a net increase of 20 partners across all offices.
Other firms to announce their financials so far have seen similar growth. After a subdued 2015/16 financial year, Pinsent Masons has broken the £400m barrier with revenues up 11% from £382.3m to £423.1m in 2016/2017.
Profit per equity partner (PEP) jumped 14% from £552,000 to £625,000. Excluding the impact of currency fluctuations, the firm achieved like-for-like turnover growth of 7%
kathryn.mccann@legalease.co.uk