Simmons & Simmons has today (13 July) reported revenue growth of 12%, up to £521m from last year’s £465m, double the previous year’s growth rate of 6%. Meanwhile, profit growth was slower – 2% compared to last year’s 8%, for a total of £189m. PEP, meanwhile, was steady at £1m, as partner headcount increased by 12.
The firm saw the most significant revenue growth in its healthcare and life sciences sector group, up by 29%. It also reported strength in financial institutions – another of the key sectors highlighted in Simmons’ business plan for 2023-26, alongside technology, media and telecoms and asset management and investment funds, which each showed double-digit growth.
‘We’re very pleased with the results’, managing partner Jeremy Hoyland (pictured) told Legal Business. ‘It has been a tough year – there’s no doubt about that. We definitely saw some softening on the transactional side. That said, our corporate practice had a very good year. Disputes, too, had a really strong year, after a couple of years of lower revenue in litigation.
‘We’ve had a big investment focus on Europe. That was our best-performing region last year. It was especially good to see really good performance in our relatively new Dublin office. And the UK business continues to do very well.’
Simmons aims to adjust its regional focus in the years to 2026, pulling out of Qatar with the closure of its Doha office, and deepening its coverage in Asia.
‘We’re looking to build our China business in a way that’s appropriate to the macroeconomic situation’, said Hoyland. ‘I’m a huge believer in Asia. We’re not going to stop investing in Europe, but we certainly aim to build up in Asia.’
The firm reported steady work from its Silicon Valley office, though it does not intend to focus on the US market. Hoyland explained: ‘We’re only ever going to be small there. We’re not going to build a huge team. But Emily Jones is doing very well and having someone on the ground really makes a difference. We’re winning work from clients that we would not have come across were it not for the Silicon Valley office.’