Citation hails year of double digit growth

THE burden of regulation is continuing to drive revenues at Citation, the Wilmslow-based employment law and health and safety consultancy.

Accounts released this week show a record-breaking year in 2013 for Citation, with double digit like-for-like revenue and profit growth on 2012. The company, backed by private equity firm ECI Partners, said pre-tax profits jumped 23% in the 12 months to December on sales of £18.2m, up 5%.

However the sharp improvement in earnings was down to an exceptional cost of £1.3m in the prior year which distorted the performance.

Chief executive Chris Morris said: “We are extremely proud of the way our business has performed over the last 12 months. We have made big changes in the way we do things to ensure our clients experience the best customer service in the industry. During this period of rebranding, acquisition and change, our top and bottom line growth has been a fantastic achievement.

“We are excited about our investment in technology and the impact this will have on our clients’ experience with us, and believe it will create a point of real difference in the market.

“At the forefront of technology, this project will create an indispensable support tool for our Clients: allowing access to what they want, when they want it and how they want it to use it, underlining the Citation commitment of support when our clients need it most.”

In their report the directors said: “The company is confident of meeting the challenges of attracting new business because of the size of the market, the heavy regulatory burden on small and medium-sized companies, the deployment of new routes to market and the enhanced development of the service offerings using technology and new products.”

The accounts show ECI holds the company through an entity called Caesar Bidco. It was sold by founder and managing director Lindsay Hill and investor Paul Hogarth, a financial services entrepreneur, have been looking for an exit for several years. The deal was said to have valued the business at £50m.

After buying smaller rival Bibby Consulting & Support Citation now has 300 staff and more than 9,000 clients.