Turnover passes £90m mark at North West law firm

Peter Jackson

Law firm Hill Dickinson has announced strong annual results.

The Liverpool-based commercial law firm, with a strong Manchester presence, saw revenues in the year to April 30, soar 10% on a like-for-like basis to £90.45m.

This included record growth across the firm’s health sector of 32% year-on-year, and a strong performance across all other areas of the firm.

Distributable profit of £16.8m was a 20% improvement, while the profit per equity partner rose 27% to £370,000.

The firm’s net cash position was further strengthened to £7.6m, compared with a £600,000 deficit the previous year.

This is the first full year after the transfer of the insurance arm to Keoghs, and the firm said all continuing business activities performed ahead of plan.

Other operational highlights included significant new client wins and panel reappointments, such as Crown Commercial Service, NHS Commercial Solutions, Axione, EMMAC Life Sciences, Sykes Cottages, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Sovini Property Services.

Peter Jackson was also re-appointed as chief executive for a further four-year term, while Jonathan Brown was appointed chairman last November.

A total of 26 partners and legal directors were appointed, while there was an intake of 21 trainees and apprentices.

Peter Jackson said: “Our financial results for 2018-19 have exceeded all our expectations.

“They represent significant like-for-like growth across every single area of our business, with overall like-for-like turnover up by 10% year-on-year.

“Our health business, in particular, has continued to grow at a rate that outstripped all of our early budget predictions.

“Major new client wins, the growth of our Leeds office and a series of new hires across the board in health produced 32% growth in 2018-19, which is a spectacular achievement and demonstrates our increased profile and presence.

“We have also been fortunate in expanding our life sciences team very quickly with some key hires in this exciting area of the law, including work at the forefront of regulated innovation in gene therapy, AI-driven drug discovery, fertility and medicinal cannabis.”

He added: “Our strength in supporting technology, fast growth and owner-managed businesses from start-up to IPO has enabled us to strengthen our offer and we have been listed as the fifth highest ranked legal advisor to AIM companies – 33 in all.

“We have also seen the returning confidence of our marine practice this year, necessitating recruitment of new people at all levels to the team, a surge in new instructions and greater work across our international office network.

“The fact that we have already made up a significant proportion of the turnover gap created by the sale of our insurance group in 2017 to Keoghs, and that profits are already running at materially higher levels, feels particularly significant.

“Our decision to focus on building on our core strengths and acting as trusted advisers to businesses across the commercial, health and marine sectors, means we are now building on a strong foundation for further growth.”

Mr Jackson said: “The calibre of our people is, without doubt, the key factor in helping us achieving these results. Their hard work and dedication demonstrates once again why we are very much a first choice law firm for serious legal professionals who place outstanding client advice and long-term relationships at the heart of their work.

“We are delighted, too, that our improved performance means we can accelerate several of the investments we are making internally, including in our culture and corporate responsibility work in the communities in which we operate.

“That said, we are ever-mindful that we practise law in an extremely competitive market and that to continue to succeed we must remain focused on our clients and on building a sustainable, profitable business.

“Nevertheless, with another set of strong results under our belts, we are positive about the future of Hill Dickinson and tremendously excited for the year ahead.”

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