Strong half year for professional services firm as revenue rises to £51m

Birmingham headquartered law firm Gateley has reported a strong half year performance as it said revenue is expected to be “not less” than £51m, up from £46.4m.

For the six months ended 31 October 2019, the firm said the strong growth, which is primarily organic, is built upon a broadening and deepening of the group’s service lines and the expansion in the group’s average number of fee earners to 673 at the period end, which has increased by 10.3% since the full year end and by 21.9% since the prior half year end in October 2018.

Gateley said: “The group continues to invest in its people, its infrastructure and its national service delivery network, which provides the board with confidence that the group will continue to deliver against market expectations in the second half of the current financial year and beyond.”

The firm said the pipeline for acquisitive expansion also remains strong.

“The group’s sixth acquisition, the land referencing consultancy Persona Associates, which completed in July 2019, has integrated into the group well and is on schedule to relocate, together with the group’s existing Guildford staff, to an expanded new Guildford premises in early 2020,” Gateley said.

“The board is also delighted that its confidence in the outlook for the group is supported by the company entering into a new five-year orderly market arrangement with its senior shareholding staff, which was announced in October 2019 and provides a stable long-term platform for all investors.”

Michael Ward, chief executive, said: “The board continues to invest in the future of the group in order to keep pace with a rapidly changing environment.  As we approach the end of our first five years on AIM, I am pleased with how our business has delivered on its promises to staff and investors.

“Despite the uncertainty around Brexit, which may continue to impact investor and client sentiment in the short-term, we remain confident that the business is well positioned to deliver a strong performance for the full year, in line with market expectations.”