Law firm sees signs of ‘very pleasing recovery’ after Covid-19 crisis

Law firm DWF has seen “a very pleasing recovery” in recent months as the Manchester-headquartered group seeing the benefit of cost-cutting measures made earlier this year.

It said improvements had continued since the initial shock in March caused by Covid-19, with revenue growth for the year to dat at 14% “as activity levels increase towards pre-Covid levels”.

This has been boosted by contributions from its acquistions, DWF-RCD and DWF Mindcrest. The group is also positive about the 1% organic improvement in the business, as it “reflects a return to growth”.

Sir Nigel Knowles

DWF’s chief executive Sir Nigel Knowles said: “We have seen a very pleasing recovery in activity levels since the dip caused by Covid-19 in Q4 of FY20.

“We have prioritised organic growth, acquisition integration and operational efficiency and this focus, combined with our cost reduction measures, has delivered strong profit improvement for the group.”

In June it cut 60 jobs when it decided to shut two international offices, in Brussels and Singapore, and scale back its presence in Dubai and Cologne.

The move came just weeks after the unceremonious departure of chief executive and managing partner Andrew Leaitherland after 14 years leading the firm.

DWF had floated in March 2019, with its 122p-per-share IPO valuing the firm at £366m. Its shares reached a high of 143p pre-Covid, before crashing to 45p in early July after the announcement of the international retrenchment.

Since then its share price has begun to recover, although last night’s close of 79p is still 35% below its IPO level.