Law firm set to smash through £100m barrier

Law firm Knights has posted strong full-year results in a trading update this morning (May 19).

Knights, which has bases in Leeds and York and has been expanding its presence in Yorkshire, said it expects turnover for the year to April 30 to be in excess £100.8m – a 36% increase on last year – while underlying profit before tax will be moderately ahead of expectations at £18m, up by 32%.

The figures come after a year of acquisitions for the group, including OTB Eveling and Mundays, which Knights says have been successfully integrated into the company as planned and are performing in line with expectations.

Since period end, Knights has announced the acquisition of Sheffield-based Keebles. The business has proved to be “an exceptionally strong cultural fit” for Knights and integration to date is “encouraging”.

Knights says it will continue on its buy-and-build strategy over the course of the next 12 months.

David Beech, CEO of Knights, said: “Our robust full year performance is testament to the well-balanced and highly diversified business we have built over a number of years. We are proud of the commitment our talented people across the business have shown, which has delivered this resilient performance during a difficult economic period. Having emerged in a stronger position from the initial stages of the pandemic, we saw good and growing momentum in the second half of the year.

“As well as adding a number of fee earners through acquisition, the critical mass the Group has now achieved means that its increased credibility, as a leading legal and professional services business outside London, is attracting both high calibre talent and an increasing number of opportunities with new and existing clients.

“With a well-invested platform and confidence in the group’s strategy, we look forward to making good progress in the new financial year as we continue to execute on the acquisitive and organic opportunities we see ahead.”

Within Yorkshire in 2020, Knights acquired Leeds’ firm Shulmans in a £20m deal before announcing it would take two floors of the Majestic development in the heart of the city. Knights also agreed a record rent for office space in York’s new Hudson Quarter development.