Thames Valley: Outstanding year of growth for Penningtons Manches
The Reading and Oxford offices of leading law firm Penningtons Manches are celebrating a rise in revenue of more than 20% for the 2016-17 financial year.
Overall, the firm achieved a 12% increase in turnover and an almost 50% increase in profits.
In its eighth consecutive year of growth, fee income climbed from £61.6 million to £69.6m and net profit saw a huge rise from £9.4m to £14m. Total profit increased by 22% year on year from £20m to £24.8m.
The firm also revealed that revenue from its top 50 clients increased by 20% year on year. Key sectors, including private wealth, technology and real estate, saw continued growth in fee income as well as in the quality of their underlying client bases.
Nearly all practice areas posted increases, with a number doing exceptionally well. Revenue from the corporate team was up 29% thanks to a general increase in both the volume and value of deals on the back of a strong M&A market and a surge in instructions post-Brexit. A substantial and growing proportion of these transactions were international, with a notable increase in capital markets work as well as a sharp rise in university spin-out deals. Aggregate deal value was in excess of £1 billion. Highlighting the strength of the firm’s sector focus, nearly 40% of transactions were in the technology sector and a quarter in life sciences and healthcare.
The Thames Valley corporate team made a strong contribution, completing several significant transactions. These included: acting for the shareholders of Oxford University artificial intelligence spin-out Wrapidity on its sale to Meltwater, a global media intelligence company; advising Timico Technology Group on securing an investment of over £50m, and acting for the shareholders of the UK business of the Worldnet group on the sale of the UK and Paris businesses to the owners of Worldnet in the US.
Commercial dispute resolution was another area to demonstrate a noteworthy performance with income rising by 28% from 2016, playing a more significant role in the growth of the business than at any other time in the past. The team covers UK and international litigation and arbitration as well professional negligence and privacy/reputation management.
The firm’s private wealth group had an excellent year, benefiting from a number of high-value international instructions across the family and private client teams. Partners and associates in the group were also successful in winning or being shortlisted for several prestigious awards and included in lists of top practitioners across the sector.
David Raine, Penningtons Manches CEO, said: “We are absolutely delighted with what has been an incredible 12 months. Whilst certain teams have done exceptionally well, all teams have contributed to help deliver these record-breaking results.
“We continue to enhance our position across our three core sectors – private wealth, technology and real estate – by constantly reviewing and strengthening the services we provide through our specialist practice areas. This has included making strategic lateral hires over the past year in new areas such as reputation management and cyber security.”
Raine added: “We’ve also gained from investing in talent and specialist resources across the board, and in bringing in leading individuals to drive the development of new disciplines. We’re very optimistic about continued growth in 2017-18 and maintaining the momentum of the last year.”
