Strategy matters

It has been almost a decade since a dynamic new management duo stepped in to rescue a firm on the edge of the precipice. Described by the firm’s senior partner, Simon Johnston, as its ‘watershed moment’, Nabarro’s finances 12 years ago were desperate: 1996 saw average profits drop to a dire £77,000, partners were leaving hand over fist, and morale was at an all-time low.

In the years that followed, Johnston and managing partner Nicole Paradise were to revolutionise Nabarro. The pair wiped out debt, raised PEP back up to healthy levels, and moved the firm into brand new offices close to the City. The new management also made the critical decision to diversify the practice.

Now it faces a new challenge. Having resolved to move away from its established property roots, the firm says it’s ready to compete with the major City firms. Sceptics say it is cutting off its nose to spite its face. So just how ready is Nabarro to take on the Square Mile’s top players?

When Paradise stepped into the managing partner role at Nabarro in 1998, she was faced with a daunting task. While other major City firms were registering an average turnover of 16%, Nabarro had posted zero growth. The firm was still reeling from a financial crisis, which had hit suddenly just over a year before, when average PEP had virtually halved. But it was the debt issues that were most alarming. The £20m overdraft alone was staggering, at one point equalling a third of the firm’s turnover. It was a shocking situation for a firm that had the LB100 survey’s tenth largest turnover in 1992.

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