Leading commercial law firm Hill Dickinson has announced strong like-for-like growth in its financial results for the year ending 30 April 2019.
Financial highlights
- Total revenue of £90.45 million
- Distributable profit of £16.8 million – up 20%
- Profit per equity partner of £370k – up 27%
- Net cash position further strengthened to £7.6m at year end (from -£0.6m a year earlier).
- 10% like-for-like growth in turnover; including:
- Record growth across the firm’s health sector: +32% year on year
- Strong performance across all other areas of the firm
Operational highlights
- First full year after transfer of insurance arm to Keoghs – all continuing business activities performed ahead of plan
- Significant new client wins and panel reappointments including: Crown Commercial Service, NHS Commercial Solutions, Axione, EMMAC Life Sciences, Sykes Cottages, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Sovini Property Services
- Reappointment of Peter Jackson as CEO for a further four-year term to October 2024
- Appointment of Jonathan Brown as chairman in November 2018
- Appointment of 26 partners and legal directors
- Intake of 21 trainees and apprentices
Commenting on the results, Hill Dickinson CEO Peter Jackson said:
‘Our financial results for 2018-19 have exceeded all our expectations. They represent significant like-for-like growth across every single area of our business, with overall like-for-like turnover up by 10% year on year.
‘Our health business in particular has continued to grow at a rate that outstripped all of our early budget predictions. Major new client wins, the growth of our Leeds office and a series of new hires across the board in health produced 32% growth in 2018-19, which is a spectacular achievement and demonstrates our increased profile and presence. We have also been fortunate in expanding our life sciences team very quickly with some key hires in this exciting area of the law, including work at the forefront of regulated innovation in gene therapy, AI-driven drug discovery, fertility and medicinal cannabis.
‘Our strength in supporting technology, fast growth and owner-managed businesses from startup to IPO has enabled us to strengthen our offer and we have been listed as the fifth* highest ranked legal advisor to AIM companies – 33 in all.
‘We have also seen the returning confidence of our marine practice this year, necessitating recruitment of new people at all levels to the team, a surge in new instructions and greater work across our international office network.
‘The fact that we have already made up a significant proportion of the turnover gap created by the sale of our insurance group in 2017 to Keoghs, and that profits are already running at materially higher levels feels particularly significant. Our decision to focus on building on our core strengths and acting as trusted advisers to businesses across the commercial, health and marine sectors, means we are now building on a strong foundation for further growth.
The calibre of our people is without doubt the key factor in helping us achieving these results. Their hard work and dedication demonstrates once again why we are very much a first choice law firm for serious legal professionals who place outstanding client advice and long-term relationships at the heart of their work. We are delighted, too, that our improved performance means we can accelerate several of the investments we are making internally including in our culture and corporate responsibility work in the communities in which we operate.
‘That said, we are ever-mindful that we practise law in an extremely competitive market and that to continue to succeed we must remain focused on our clients and on building a sustainable, profitable business. Nevertheless, with another set of strong results under our belts, we are positive about the future of Hill Dickinson and tremendously excited for the year ahead’.
(*AIM Advisers Rankings Guide, July 2019)
IMAGE: Peter Jackson, CEO, Hill Dickinson