LEADING regional law firm Howes Percival has reported a 14 per cent increase in turnover, with profits up 37 per cent, according to its most recent financial results.
The results, for the firm’s full financial year ending May 2018, follow a period of sustained, strategic investment and expansion, which has seen the firm upgrade its office space in all its locations, open new offices in Milton Keynes and Cambridge, and increase partner numbers from 29 to 42.
Howes Percival now has six offices in total across the country and, as a result, turnover has increased from £15m in 2014 to over £20m last year.
Clients include Government departments, international brands and household names such as Welcome Break, Microsoft and leading pub operator and independent brewer Marston’s, while the firm maintains a strong core client base of SMEs and family-owned businesses, plus high-net-worth individuals.
Howes Percival has also made some significant acquisitions during this period. In November 2015, the firm completed the acquisition of part of Taylor Vinters’ real estate team to strengthen its commercial property specialism, while it acquired specialist insolvency practice, Summers Nigh Law in June 2017.
In March 2017, the firm announced that it had expanded its Government work significantly by being selected for the Crown Commercial Services General Legal Services Panel for Central Government, in a consortium with PwC and two other law firms; Holman Fenwick Willan LLP and Sharpe Pritchard LLP.
Geraint Davies, Howes Percival Partner and Board member said: “I’m absolutely delighted with these results. Just over three years ago the management team and the partners agreed a clear strategy for growth which involved investing in new offices, services and expertise. The whole team got behind that plan and we are now seeing the results of the investments we have made, and we expect that growth to continue.
“As we’ve been investing back into the firm for the last couple of years, we haven’t seen the profit come through in quite the same way until now, but we knew the strategy was working. Going forward, we will continue to invest in new services and expertise to ensure we can continue to give our clients the best possible service.
“We have built on our existing network across the centre of England, strengthened our regional offering by investing in new offices and broadened our expertise with some eye-catching hires. Our current offices all have enormous growth potential and they are ideally located to also attract the best talent and work from London and the North West.
“We’ve proved in the last couple of years that we can be a match for any firm. We’ve completed a number of really big deals and we’re winning more and more new instructions because of our ability to work as a team across offices and the sheer strength of our talent pool. We can put a team together to handle almost any transaction and we’re now seeing that in the quality of work that is coming through.”
Howes Percival provides a full service legal offering to corporate and private clients and sector specialisms include agriculture, automotive, development and construction, education, food and drink and leisure and tourism. The firm was a finalist in The Legal 500 UK 2018 awards in the Corporate & Commercial Regional Firm of the Year category.
