‘Resilient’ Gateley sees subdued activity
Gateley, the professional services group says it’s experiencing a subdued Q3, particularly for some of its legal services transactional teams.
The Birmingham-headquartered firm, with bases in Bolton, Leeds, Leicester, Manchester and Nottingham, however has reported strong results and said its resilience has been driven by its investment in a diverse range of businesses.
In the six months to 31 October 2023, the firm saw revenue and underlying profit before tax up by 7.6% and 4.6% respectively, against a challenging macroeconomic backdrop.
The firm has continued with its M&A strategy with its £6m acquisition in the summer of chartered surveying practice Richard Julian and Associates and increased its fee earner headcount to 1,035 from 1,000 during this period.
And despite a reduction in activity, its cyclical work in consultancy services is performing well.
Gateley has also revealed that Nigel Payne will step down as Chairman at the 2024 AGM and David Wilton will join the board as Chair Designate and Non-Executive Director on 1 February 2024.
Wilton is currently the Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at CVS Group plc, the £1.2bn AIM listed provider of integrated veterinary services. He was CFO of Sumo Group, a listed video game developer, from IPO in 2017 to its successful sale to Tencent in January 2022.
More recently, Wilton was Chair of Frontier Developments, an independent developer and publisher of video games. His previous roles include Group Finance Director of WYG and NED and Chair of the Audit Committee of Sweett Group.
He spent the earlier part of his career in corporate finance, primarily in mid cap M&A with Rothschilds.
On appointment Wilton will become a member of the Remuneration, Audit and Risk, and Nominations Committees. From September he will take over the role of Chair of the Nominations Committee.
Rod Waldie, Chief Executive Officer of Gateley, said: “Given macro-economic conditions during the Period, I am pleased with the Group’s resilient H1 24 performance.
“This is testament to, firstly, our strong client relationships, sustained by the excellent service delivered by our people and, secondly, our strategy working in practice as we continue to differentiate Gateley and enhance resilience via the aggregation of, and continued investment in, complementary legal and consultancy services on each of our Platforms.
“Our H2 24 outlook reflects our cautious view on the market conditions we are currently experiencing. That said, I am confident in the ability of our excellent teams to continue to rise to the challenge for the remainder of this year, and beyond. We continue to invest in the business and remain confident and well-positioned to deliver our long-term ambitions.”
