National law firm Browne Jacobson has posted a record set of financial results for 2012-13. For the 12 months to April 2013 turnover rose to £45m, a 9% increase on last year’s £41.3m.
Regionally Nottingham recorded a 6.4% rise in work done – the first set of financial results since the firm relocated its headquarters to its new 60,000 sq ft offices at Mowbray House in July 2012. Likewise Birmingham posted a 5.5% increase whilst London recorded an 8% year on year rise.*
2012 saw the firm expand its national presence with the opening of two new offices. Its Manchester office – the first since Birmingham was launched back in 1999 – has grown four-fold since opening its doors in January 2012. This was closely followed by the launch of its Exeter office along with the acquisition of a team from local law firm Veitch Penny, including partners Mark Fowles and Jo Pruden.
Browne Jacobson has also been actively investing in people right across its five office network. A positive recruitment drive has seen overall numbers rise by 113 bringing the total headcount to 709. The firm’s Nottingham office saw the largest single increase with numbers rising by 75 to 503. New partner arrivals included Helena Wootton and Rachel Lyne. Due to its continual growth the firm has also signed a lease for 5,800 additional sq ft of office accommodation at Lock House, adjoining the firm’s Mowbray House headquarters in Nottingham.
Elsewhere new partners Paul Wainwright, Pam Shepherd, Ailsa Roberts and Kevin Jones arrived in Birmingham whilst Michael Howard was appointed in London. Amanda Callaghan, and more recently Nicky Collins, joined the firm’s Manchester office, bringing the total number of partners across the firm to 90, with total lawyer numbers now at 370. The firm also unveiled its successful apprenticeship scheme in its Nottingham office which saw ten apprentices join within six months of its launch.
Alongside this the firm has added a string of impressive national and regional public and private sector clients to its roster over the past twelve months including Vodafone Limited, Deutsche Bank, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Government Procurement Service, National Audit Office, Dale Power Solutions, Bruno Iksil, AXA Assistance S.A, Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe, OIM Underwriting, Click for Cover, Broadway Cinema, Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, Welham Estates Ltd, National Governors Association and some of the biggest school academy groups in the country including CfBT Education Trust, the Academy Transformation Trust and E-ACT.
Other notable achievements included being ranked in the prestigious Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For and being awarded ISO27001:2005 accreditation, the leading information security standard.
Managing Partner Iain Blatherwick, said:
“Once again the firm has had another landmark year and delivered a very impressive set of results, especially when you consider average growth rates in the sector this year are expected to be around three percent. Turnover has been growing significantly year on year culminating in our best ever financial performance.
“Our strength in a number of practice areas and growth sectors and our ability to work harder and smarter have all played a major part.
“Our ambition for this year is to take turnover past the £50m mark primarily through delivering on the considerable investment made over the last eighteen months in expanding our national footprint, working alongside our key strategic recruits and harnessing the benefit of significant improvements in infrastructure, particularly in information technology.”
