DWF turnover leaps
ACQUISITIONS, most notably a pre-pack acquisition for Cobbetts, pushed annual turnover at law firm DWF up 84% to £188m.
The firm, which now has 2,500 people and 13 offices in the UK and Ireland, said profit per equity partner was £429,000, up from £415,000 last year.
DWF, which is now close to being in the UK’s top 20 by turnover, said net profit in the year to the end of April had risen 41%. It did not disclose the figure.
The company acquired Cobbetts earlier this year in a move which has seen the Leeds-based Cobbetts staff move into DWF’s Leeds base at Bridgewater Place.
Once all staff have moved across, DWF will have 340 people in Leeds occupying 36,801 sq ft at the building.
As well as Cobbetts, in the last year, Manchester-based DWF has gobbled-up Scottish-based practice, Biggart Baillie; Birmingham firm, Buller Jeffries; and professional indemnity practice, Fishburns.
Managing partner and chief executive Andrew Leaitherland said: “We have been very clear about our ambition to expand our national presence, and that we see strategic mergers with like-minded firms as a key part of this.
“The decisions we’ve undertaken in the past year have all been led by market demand and have served to reinforce the expertise we have as a team.”
He added: “We have achieved a lot this year and made significant headway towards our goal of becoming a top 20 law firm and this is down to the fantastic effort of all of our people, and tremendous support from our clients.
“We have more exciting plans on the horizon for the coming year which will lead to further growth in net profit and turnover. The appointment of David (Gray – the fomer Eversheds CEO) demonstrates our ambition for not only national, but international growth as we continue to build our business whilst keeping our values and culture intact.”
