After flat turnover growth in recent years, Nabarro has recorded £126m in revenue for the 2014/15 financial year, an 8% rise on last year and its largest annual increase since 2008, alongside a 21% jump in profit per equity partner (PEP) to £576,000, constituting a double digit increase for a third consecutive year.
The 2014/15 results constitute a marked turnaround in revenue terms for the LB100 firm which last year posted broadly flat turnover at £116.7m, a rise of just 0.3% while PEP increased by 10.5% to £475,000. The preliminary figures show the firm’s PEP has grown by 74% over a three-year period.
Senior partner Graham Stedman (pictured) pointed towards the firm’s recent move to 125 London Wall which generated property savings, its office openings, and a resurgent real estate market as key to its growth.
Management has also notably rewarded its younger talent with strong-performing associates receiving over £1m in bonuses this year.
Stedman said: ‘Teams right across the firm have worked hard and we have recognised their efforts. In addition, our work on the profitability of the firm has delivered another strong PEP performance which this year is combined with significant turnover growth.’
To ensure the firm’s growth is ‘sustainable’, Stedman added that a new three-year strategy, which was developed in consultations held with partners last year and with the help of Møller PSF Group, will aim to grow work won from international clients to a third of revenue by 2018 and renew focus on four key sectors: healthcare & life sciences, and infrastructure, real estate, and technology. The firm is also working to identify opportunities to improve business processes and deployment of IT.
The results come on the back of investments made by the firm since last year. Clearly in hiring mode to build out internationally, in April it enhanced its Singapore offering with the appointment of senior disputes partner Steven Lim, the founder and managing director of Clyde & Co’s joint venture partner Clasis, to head its Singapore office while two laterals were also made at the start of this year in Dubai with Ravinder Bhullar from Baker Botts and Kevin Joyce from Pinsent Masons, joining its infrastructure, construction and energy practice.
Investment in the UK meanwhile saw the launch of a partner-led offering in Manchester with the hire of Addleshaw Goddard real estate head Mark Haywood, and partners Monica Brij and Nathan Jansen. It made further recruits to the base in January with corporate partner Howard Gill and real estate partner Peter Winnard from Pinsent Masons and Eversheds respectively.
Major mandates include securing a coveted spot alongside Shoosmiths on the legal panel of Mercedes-Benz UK following a competitive tender process that saw Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co fail to win a place. True to form the real estate practice performed solidly with significant instructions including advising Canada Pension Plan Investment Board on its £1.1bn acquisition of UK student accommodation provider Liberty Living.
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk
