Investment and Spanish sale dent Irwin Mitchell’s profits

LAW firm Irwin Mitchell said annual profits had falledn 8.5% aas a result of investment in new office openings, partner hires and the sale of its Spanish practice.

Despite gentle revenue growth of 1.2% to £202.7m in the year to the end of April, the national firm said profits felll from £18.7m to £17.1m.

IM said the drop in profit was due to the short-term impact of the sale of Irwin Mitchell Abogados last September and due to continued investment including the opening of the first of two new regional offices in Southampton, with a second opening in Cambridge after the end of the financial year, and a  recruitment campaign which saw 26 partner-level hires.

Manchester is a key location for the Sheffield-headquartered firm. It has 241 employees at its offices on Quay Street,  and at City Tower, Piccadilly, which is home to its debt recovery subsidiary Ascent.

Growth in income was seen in a number of areas across the group, including its business legal services division, multi-track personal injury (PI) and in  Ascent and Irwin Mitchell Asset Management (IMAML).

Chief executive Andrew Tucker said: “This has been another year when we have continued to grow our business while making substantial investment for the future. Growth has come from across our group and we are in a strong position financially to continue to invest in the future of our business as we look to expand further.

“We have opened two new offices this year in Southampton and Cambridge, continued our recruitment drive to add to the high quality offering we already have in place, and made five acquisitions since we became an ABS in 2012.

“We have clear plans in place to grow our business further and secured a finance package with our banks in 2013/14 to fund future growth which was a clear vote of confidence in our financial strength and our plans.”

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