Price pressures squeezed Hill Dicks’ profits ahead of restructuring
LAW firm Hill Dickinson saw profits fall by 13.5% in the financial year which preceeded a round of job cuts and the sale of its Chester office to Midlands firm Knights.
Newly filed accounts for the year to the end of April 2013 show turnover at the Liverpool-headquartered firm increased by 3.5% to £114m but pre-tax profits fell from £31m to £26.8m, with the restructuring costing £1.5m.
After members remuneration of £14.6m the firm was left with £12.2m, compared to £16.2m last time. The highest paid member took a £331,000 share of the profit, down from £402,000 in 2012.
The members have also put more money into the business, contributing an extra £3.7m, and the firm has taken a three-year £10m loan with Barclays. Bank debt now totals £15.1m.
The members’ report in the accounts said: “The financial results reflect a year in which strong performances in our marine and health business groups were offset by the continued impact of the UK economy for commercial legal services and also price pressure in certain sectors.”
It added: “An element of this decrease in profits related to the cost of the significant actions taken by the board between February and April 2013 as it implemented a full review of client service line and geographic reach.”
In the summer the firm announced it was cutting 83 jobs, or 6% of its workforce, following the review. It lost 14 partners, or 8% of the 175 total, and 69 employees, but it said 44 left voluntarily. Hill Dickinson has 1,400 staff in Liverpool and six other offices including Manchester, Sheffield and London. It also has four offices overseas in Hong Kong, Singapore, Monaco, and Greece.
The firm declined to comment on the figures but in November managing partner Peter Jackson said: “The last six months have seen a significant re-alignment of the business to ensure our continued success in a market which, despite signs of improvement, continues to provide challenges.
“It is really pleasing to see that this is clearly resulting in growth which allows us to continue to invest in the firm for its future success. It is also interesting to see particularly strong results in areas which reflect the growing increase in business confidence across the country.
“Over the next twelve months we will continue to invest in our people, especially nurturing new talent and continuing to deliver exceptional results for our clients.”
* Meanwhile, Liverpool rival Weightmans saw pre-tax profits rise by 12.6% to £24m during the same period. Turnover rose by 5.4% to £81.6m at the firm which has nearly 1,000 staff including 146 members. The maximum partner share of the profits was £385,000, up from £322,000.
