Year 10 of growth for top law firm

Jun 24 2008 by Karen Dent, The Journal

THE North East’s biggest law firm has reported its 10th year of double-digit growth to take in annual revenues of £53.4m last year. Newcastle-based Dickinson Dees said its office in London, opened during its last financial year, and its York base, which has been operating since February last year, had played a significant role in the business’s 12% growth for 2007-8.

Managing partner Jonathan Blair said: “2007-8 has seen a further change in the firm’s transition from being the North East’s leading law firm to being the pre-eminent independent law firm outside London.

“This is increasingly evident through the geographical reach of our work and the capital value of the deals the firm has acted on. We have experienced strong growth across all core sectors, advising clients from FTSE-listed companies to major local authorities to private individuals and small owner-managed businesses.”

The strong results echo those of Tyneside’s other large law firms. Ward Hadaway saw its turnover grow by 13% to £28m after 16% growth in the previous year and Watson Burton, which has expanded to London and Leeds in the last three years, saw its revenues rise to more than £23m last year.

Dickinson Dees has divided its core business, including its corporate work, and its volume work, known as ‘d3 legal’, into separate trading divisions. The results just published refer to its core work.

The firm admitted the credit crunch will impact on its volume work, with re-mortgaging and conveyancing showing a fall in turnover in the last few months.

However, the corporate department is celebrating a 22% increase in growth as it acted on deals worth more than £8bn from all sectors and all parts of the UK.

They included advising Newcastle-based public transport giant Go-Ahead on its £1.1bn bid for its new West Midlands franchise.