Irwin Mitchell has posted a revenue increase of 6% for the last financial year from £221.3m to £235.2m, with profit before tax of £12.3m.
The results represent a solid performance in the first full year of combined financials with south-east firm Thomas Eggar, which Irwin Mitchell combined with in 2015. Last year the firm posted an 8% turnover rise to £221.3m, which included four months of trading with Thomas Eggar.
Work highlights for 2016/17 included co-ordinating real estate advice to National Grid as part of a deal to dispose of majority stake in its gas distribution network, which included the transfer of over 10,000 properties. The firm launched its private wealth group and was also named Private Client Team of the Year for the second year in a row at the Legal Business Awards. In addition, Irwin Mitchell Group company IM Asset Management has over £500m of assets under management.
As a result of the Thomas Eggar merger, profits at the firm were ‘sacrificed’ in 2016, falling by 25%. The sharp drop in profits was put down to a deliberate decision by the board to ‘fast-track the integration’, which led to a ‘short-term impact on profitability’. Irwin Mitchell does not operate a traditional law firm partnership and partners are remunerated according to salaries and bonuses, not profit shares, therefore the firm does not publish a profit per equity partner (PEP) figure.
In the firm’s first LLP accounts since the acquisition, published late last year, showed the firm’s profit on ordinary activities had dropped by 59% to £8.4m from £20.6m.
Commenting on the recent financials, group chief executive Andrew Tucker (pictured) said the firm had made significant progress in a number of areas last year and he was excited about future prospects.
‘The group has responded positively to challenging external conditions and I’m pleased to say that this hard work is reflected in these financial results. I’m very optimistic about the opportunities across the group and our strength in breadth gives us a great platform to build on.’
