Harvey Ingram sheds partners to prepare for growth
LAW firm Harvey Ingram is cutting its partner numbers as it prepares for growth. The firm has asked four partners to leave and is reassigning others as it looks to control costs.
Simon Astill, managing partner, said: “It is time to hone our investment strategy to ensure it is targeting precisely the areas that are crucial to our continuing growth. At four of the firm’s five offices one partner has been asked to leave and other partners are being assigned to non-partnership roles, with three becoming legal directors and two becoming consultants. One partner is retiring.
“Another phase will follow soon, with the streamlining of our back office, including the outsourcing of the reception, facilities management and administrative support. We will then address other areas of the business including IT, knowledge management and secretarial support.”
The restructuring is in part, a consequence of the firm’s merger with Home Counties-based Borneos, which took place earlier this year.
Mr Astill said the restructuring would help keep the firm on course for a record £19.5m turnover, up from £14.2m last year. If growth is secure, then he said further acquisitions could follow, together with new product launches and the recruitment of new specialists.
The firm, with five offices across the Midlands and Home Counties including its Newhall Street office in Birmingham, employs almost 400 people.
Mr Astill said: “I was elected as managing partner with a mandate to expand the firm. To achieve that we have implemented an aggressive growth plan. We then set about increasing our income and are pleased to have added over £5 million turnover in just one year.
“The next step of this expansion sees us realigning our services to meet the shifting patterns of the work we are winning. As with any professional organisation, we have to develop our product and continue to anticipate and address what the market needs. We cannot afford to stand still and nor would our clients want us to. We must free up funds to invest in the areas in demand.
“This is a careful, deliberate strategy across a firm that is a major business entity in the Midlands and Home Counties. For instance, family law and specialist property work are growing, so we are bolstering our teams in those areas. Other areas require smaller teams, so we are reducing the numbers of people working there.”
He stressed the restructuring was being conducted from a position of strength.
“In the past 12 months we have added three new offices and five new partners, expanded the Leicester and Birmingham teams and recruited 12 new solicitors and associates.
“With a record turnover and new clients, Harvey Ingram is set for another exciting year while we consider acquiring other firms. We are committed to bolstering specific teams and launching exciting new products,” he said.
