Ince & Co confirmed today (4 April) that ten shipping and insurance fee-earners along with six secretarial staff have been made redundant following the conclusion of a consultation launched in February.
The secretarial and office support staff were offered voluntary redundancy while the fee-earners were not and all ten fee-earners have now left the firm.
In a statement, the firm said: ‘Following an assessment of the prevailing economic conditions in our core sectors and a review of our resourcing requirements, we are in consultation over the potential redundancy of 10 fee-earner and six business services roles. Where possible, we will be seeking volunteers for some of these roles.
‘We are sorry to see colleagues leaving and we will be working closely with our clients and other contacts who may be looking for high quality recruits. All our leavers will be offered outplacement support and significantly enhanced departure packages and we wish them well.’
The top 40 firm said that these cuts would reduce the London office by less than 5%.
In January, the firm’s LLP accounts showed a reduction in bank loans to £500,000, down from the previous year’s figure of £1.4m.
Revenue was more or less static in 2013 at £61.9m compared to £61.1m in the previous year, while the overall profit was £1m lower in 2013 at £19m.
The firm’s highest paid member also took home less in 2013 at £545,670 compared to £584,065 in the previous year.
Other firms to have announced redundancy programmes in the past 12 months include Berwin Leighton Paisner, Bond Dickinson and Watson Farley.
francesca.fanshawe@legalease.co.uk
