More than 100 DWF staff are at risk of redundancy as the firm looks to cut costs in its commercial services and central services divisions.
The firm is conducting a consultation with 108 employees in the two divisions, with a spokesperson confirming that the firm expects a ‘proportion of these roles to be made redundant’.
In its statement, DWF cited its strategy of ‘long-term, sustainable growth’, which required it to be ‘responsive to the economic environment and ensuring our teams reflect the changing needs of our clients’.
The firm’s statement added: ‘We understand that this is a very difficult situation for those colleagues involved and we are committed to a meaningful consultation and responding to questions or concerns raised.’
In the event that cuts are confirmed, this would not the first time in recent years that DWF has made headcount reductions. In 2021, the firm closed three offices in Australia, leading to around 100 job losses, while in 2020, it closed its Singapore and Brussels offices, resulting in around 60 job losses, while also that year cutting around 15 UK staff support positions.
DWF is the largest UK firm owned by private equity, after it was taken private by specialist mid-market PE firm Inflexion in October 2023. The deal came after an underwhelming four years as a listed firm in which shares listed at 122p and dropped to a low of 53p in June 2020.
In its most recent accounts, DWF reported 8% organic growth for its commercial division, which combines its legal advisory arm with business services, adding that that growth came ‘despite a challenging transactional environment’.
The global transactional environment continues to be challenging, with managing partners and M&A leaders predicting a ‘period of relative caution’ in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s recent actions regarding tariffs and trade.
