Legal Business Law Firm of the Year Shoosmiths has today (19 July) reported another year of growth, with a 7% rise in revenue taking the firm’s turnover to £194.1m following last year’s 8% increase.
Profitability was also up by 3%, hitting £62.7m, while profit per equity partner (PEP) PEP nudged up by £1,000 to £676,000.
These growth rates are down on last year when profits rose by 9% and PEP by 3%. But the firm was nonetheless positive. ‘It’s been a challenging environment for all businesses’, said chief executive David Jackson. ‘To have produced these results at a time of such turbulence is pretty impressive. We’re pleased to have continued our upward trajectory.
‘High inflation and the war for talent in the legal market have been challenging issues to navigate. But we took the decision as a board that we were going to prioritise investment in our people.’
This took the form of another accelerated pay review in November, following one in May 2022, as well as a new collegiate bonus scheme and expanded care and benefits packages.
The results also come in a year that saw the firm launch a new strategy, citing mobility, technology, financial services, living, and energy and infrastructure as its core sectors.
Jackson explained: ‘We’ve identified the areas in which we can excel, and we’ve really turbocharged our investment in those areas. We’ve stopped doing some of the work that isn’t strategically aligned.’ To this end, Shoosmiths jettisoned its private client practice in June to focus on its core real estate, corporate, and litigation practices.
‘The standout performer of the past 12 months has been our corporate practice. We saw 15% growth there, which makes us an outlier, given the slowdown in transactional activity that we’ve seen.’
‘What we’re focusing on now’, said Jackson, ‘is moving up the value chain.’
Chief financial officer Chris Stanton also noted ‘another strong year in litigation’, though growth there was less impressive than for non-contentious work. ‘Corporate is up to about a quarter of our total business now, and we’re looking to continue to build there. Real estate and advisory are still our powerhouses, but corporate is catching up.’
Looking ahead, Jackson explained, ‘the plan is to have a balanced portfolio across corporate, real estate and litigation.’
The firm also has ambitions to expand its geographical spread after opening its first international office in Belgium last year. ‘Our Brussels office gives us a fantastic platform to evolve our competition and regulatory practice, and we aim to further build that out over the next 12 months’, said Jackson.
‘We’re keeping an open mind as to where further opportunities might develop. We’re strong in technology, for example, and that might lead us to certain geographies where there’s a strong technology market.
‘We don’t have any concrete plans at the moment. Germany would make sense for a firm like us, given our expertise in automotives and financial services – but we’d have to wait and see.’
alexander.ryan@legalbusiness.com
