Residential property recovery provides foundations for Knights’ growth ambitions
Professional services group Knights is encouraged by the “strong recovery” in residential property and believes that will provide the foundations for a good year ahead.
Knights chief executive David Beech said he is “confident in delivering our ambitions plans to double the size of the business in the medium term”.
The acquisitive firm has grown significantly in recent years and now has more than 1,400 staff. The purchases last May of Carlisle law firm Baines Wilson and Newcastle-based St James Law took the number of acquisitions since its IPO in 2018 to 20.
Knights said its two latest acquisitions “are trading ahead of expectations and provide strong platforms for future organic growth”.
The group has revealed it has increased revenue by 6%, reaching £150m for the first time in the year to April. Pre-tax profits were up 29% to £14.8m.
Beech added: “Knights has delivered a good performance against a challenging market backdrop, reflecting the strength of our diversified service offering, and continued execution against our strategy, and building on our strong track record of profitable growth since IPO in 2018.
“We have diversified our service offering, won a number of new clients, sharpened our focus on operational excellence and made considered strategic acquisitions, bolstering our scale in the North, an important region.”
Knights is headquartered in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire and operates in 23 locations across England, including Leeds, Sheffield and York.
The group’s share price has more than doubled in the past year, closing on Friday at 145p, although it remains a long way below the 400p-plus levels seen for 18 months up to March 2022.
