Redundancies at Hill Dicks as division merged
LAW firm Hill Dickinson is planning six redundancies in its professional indemnity division after deciding to consolidate the Manchester and Liverpool teams.
The firm, which has its headquarters in Liverpool, said the decision followed a review of operational efficiency at its professional and financial risks business.
Manchester staff will move to Liverpool where some extra jobs are being created, while others will be redeployed. The total number of staff in the new team has not been disclosed.
In a statement Hill Dickinson said: “Whilst some redundancies will arise from this move it is not anticipated that this will involve more than six employees and consultations are currently underway in this regard.”
Last summer the firm announced it was cutting 83 jobs, or 6% of its workforce, following another review. It lost 14 partners, or 8% of the 175 total, and 69 employees, but it said 44 left voluntarily. It also sold its Chester office to Midlands firm Knights.
Accounts for the year to the end of April 2013 show turnover increased by 3.5% to £114m but pre-tax profits fell from £31m to £26.8m, with the restructuring costing £1.5m.
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.
Head of insurance Ruth Lawrence said: “We continue to invest in our professional and financial risks business with new roles created at our Liverpool office and further recruitment underway to expand our London team in response to market demand. Our firm has a strong footprint and exceptional reputation for professional and financial risks services.”
Manchester office head Geraldine Ryan said: “Hill Dickinson remains fully committed to the further development of our legal practice in the city. During the past 12 months we have recruited an additional 37 fee earners and relocated an additional 4 professionals from our other North West offices, to support the increased levels of business activity we are experiencing in Manchester. Only last week we announced the appointment of Daniel Rubin and David Parry, as partners, to further bolster our employment team.”
