Revenue climbs to £34m for insurance industry law firm
Specialist insurance industry law firm Horwich Farrelly, based in Stretford, Greater Manchester, achieved significant growth in its last financial year.
For the year 2015-16, turnover rose by 21%, up from £28m in 2014-15 to £34m in 2015/16 with further double digit top-line growth expected this year.
Several new major client wins and an 18% increase in volume of instructions contributed to the firm’s success during the past year, as well as the integration of the former Greenwoods personal injury team.
In addition to the installation of John O’Roarke as chairman at the start of 2016, a number of other senior hires supported the firm’s continued expansion into non-motor areas, in particular EL/PL with business secured from AXA and ERGO Versicherung AG.
O’Roarke said: “2015-16 has been our most successful year yet. As well as increasing turnover by over a fifth, our headcount grew by 10% to 730, in order to ensure we can meet the needs of our expanding client roster.
“With a number of important new clients coming on board during the past 12 months – the most recent being AXA and ERS – I believe this all goes to demonstrate the credibility we have built in the insurance sector.”
Thomas Reynard was appointed chief operating officer during 2016 and new partners, Alistair Graham, Mark Dickson, Martin McKenna and Tony McLoughlin, were hired to expand Horwich Farrelly’s non-motor offering.
With three new partners also appointed internally, the total number across the firm’s six offices increased from 28 in 2015 to 35 in 2016, reinforcing Horwich Farrelly’s national client capabilities.
Eighteen internal promotions to associate were also announced during the year. The company also offered 17 training contracts and 18 legal apprenticeships in 2016.
“2015-16 presented a number of exciting opportunities for the firm,” said O’Roarke.
“This included the integration of the former Greenwoods PI team into our Large & Complex Injury Group, now operating from our offices in the City and Southampton, and making us the leading catastrophic injury adviser in the UK.”
