Turnover and profits fall at Pannone in year of change

LAW firm Panone saw its turnover slip by 4.4% to £47.5m in the year to April 30, while the average profit per equity partner also declined by almost 10% to £207,600.

The Manchester-based firm said that its profits had been impacted as a result of a wide-ranging restructuring which significantly increased its one-off costs but should lead to savings of around £3m a year.

This has involved a rebranding of the firm and a streamlining of its management functions, with a new executive board appointed that has strategic decision-making powers. Its various departments have been streamlined into five different divisions and a new performance-based profit sharing model has been adopted.

Managing partner Emma Holt, who took over the firm in July 2010, said: “It has been a challenging year not only for Pannone but the legal profession as a whole.

“To rise to these challenges and meet clients’ demands it was necessary to modernise the firm and take a number of difficult decisions, including redundancies.

“The restructure, which has been fully-supported by the equity partners, has resulted in considerable one-off costs and impacted profits.

“Our FY11 results were as anticipated and we are now in a position of considerable strength going forward and profits are predicted to increase significantly in the current financial year.

“Additionally, we have made a number of strategic partner appointments and are looking at further lateral hires.”

Pannone currently employs around 630 staff at offices in Manchester, Alderley Edge, Hale and a London office launched last year.