Beachcroft has unveiled robust financial results for 2006-07, breaking the £100m barrier for the first time, as the national firm looks to reap the benefits of its recent restructuring.
Results released today (17 May) show average profits per equity partner (PEP) at the top 25 UK outfit hitting £320,000 – an increase of 19% on last year’s disappointing figure of £270,000.
Fee income, meanwhile, was up by 14% from £98m for the previous 12-month period to hit a new mark of £112m. Total profits at the 158-partner practice saw a 20% jump to reach £29.7m.
Senior management at the firm pointed to strong performances by its employment, corporate, commercial, property and dispute resolution groups as key drivers behind its recent financial growth.
The results follow a difficult year for Beachcroft, which saw the 860-lawyer UK firm complete a restructuring programme that resulted in nine redundancies across its offices in London and Birmingham.
As first reported by legalweek.com (9 November), the shake-up – which included binning the firm’s entire private client practice – reflected a drive to improve Beachcroft’s profitability, which lags national rivals including Eversheds and Pinsent Masons.
However, Beachcroft last month signalled its renewed ambition after hiring the entire London public law team of US giant Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw.
Commenting on the figures, Beachcroft managing partner Paul Murray said: “This is an excellent result. Our aim for the last financial year was to ensure that we delivered results fitting for a business as strong as ours.”
Meanwhile, London firm Speechly Bircham today posted provisional results showing a 17% rise in turnover to reach £40m for 2006-07, with PEP set to break the £525,000 mark, an increase of at least 13% on the £465,000 average last year.
In an additional move, Speechlys managing partner Michael Lingens and senior partner Alan Julyan have both been re-elected for new three-year terms following uncontested elections.