HFW has unveiled its 2024-25 financial results today (7 July), with revenue climbing 8% to £270.8m against a slight dip in profits per equity partner (PEP) to £828,000.
The results reflect a year of slower but steady growth for the firm, which posted an 11% revenue increase last year and 13% in 2022-23.
Net profit edged up 2.4% in 2024-25 to £77.2m, a significantly smaller increase than last year, when profit soared by 17% to £75.4m. With equity partner numbers climbing from 88 to 93, PEP dipped 3% from £855,000 in 2024 to £828,000.
Growth in lawyer numbers more broadly mean profit per lawyer (PPL) fell 5% to £132,000 from £139,000. Meanwhile, revenue per lawyer (RPL) stayed almost flat, nudging up from £462,000 to £465,000.
Managing partner Jeremy Shebson pointed to increased investment as a reason for the slowdown in profit growth, alongside headcount growth. He said: ‘We’ve made some significant investments over the past year, not just in people, but in technology and in our property estates across the network, with more investment to come.’
HFW is three financial years into a strategic plan which saw the firm, which counts industries including commodities, transport and insurance among its key areas of focus, set out to become ‘the world’s leading sector-focused law firm’.
The firm said that it had achieved new highs in revenue and profit in all six of its global sectors: aerospace, commodities, construction, corporate & commercial, insurance, and shipping.
Global senior partner Giles Kavanagh (pictured) told Legal Business: ‘The strategy remains as it has been for the last three years, each of which saw growth. We’re focusing on increasing the presence we have in our 21 offices around the world, with the aim of being number one in every sector that we practice in.’
Since the strategy was first adopted at the start of the 2022-23 financial year, HFW has increased revenue by 36% and net profit by 42%, with RPL up 12% and PEP up 24% – all against the backdrop of a 22% increase in lawyer count to a total of 583 lawyers across the last financial year. Tthe addition of 39 new partner hires since the beginning of the 2022-23 financial year the firm has increased in partnership size by around 20%.
Almost 60% of HFW’s revenue was generated overseas, with international revenue up 12%, marking a third consecutive year of double-digit growth.
Commenting on the firm’s international performance Shebson said: ‘Australia has been a key focus for growth. Other regions where we actively continue to look to invest are the Middle East and mainland Europe.’
In the Middle East, HFW has become one of several firms receiving a licence to operate in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, launching a formal subsidiary in Riyadh, having previously operated in the country through an allowance.
Meanwhile, the firm expanded in Australia with 14 lateral hires over the last two years, including four over the last financial year.
While the firm did not provide revenue numbers for London for 2024-25, it said its revenue in the City had grown by more than a third over the past three years.
Looking at the firm’s performance by practice, the firm’s disputes team performed well, with HFW notching up wins in major cases relating to Russian aviation insurance in the English courts and to the collapse of financial services company Greensill Capital, in both the English and Australian courts.
‘We’re very interested in growing our commercial disputes practice across both courts and international arbitration’, said Kavanagh.
He continued: ‘We’ve taken on an insolvency and restructuring team in Australia, which is additive to our overall insolvency and restructuring offering, which is another key area of growth for us.
‘A further area we’re focusing on growing is ship finance. We have a very large shipping practice with a range of clients across the shipping sector. That’s something we’re keen to build, to consolidate our number one position in shipping.’
