London law firm, Howard Kennedy today announces its results for the financial year 2021/22, with revenue exceeding £60m for the first time.
The firm saw growth across its key practice areas, with particularly strong performances from the Corporate and Real Estate transactional practices (+18%); with the specialist Business Crime (+24%); and Construction (+20%) teams also delivering robust year-on-year growth.
Revenue grew by 6.3% to £60.5m in the year ending April 30, up from £56.9m in the previous 12 months. Profit also increased, alongside continued investment in people and technology. 2021 saw the reappointment of Craig Emden for his second four-year term as Managing Partner. This reappointment provided the firm with the platform to implement a three-year growth plan developed and agreed by the firm’s partners. The plan is built on six pillars: Clients, People, Growth, Reputation, Smart Working and Responsible Business.
In pursuit of its new targets, Howard Kennedy has stepped up its recruitment of new talent alongside a commitment to promoting excellent performance and talent from within the firm. The firm has welcomed eight new partners across a range of practice areas during the financial year, reflecting the broad-based growth to which the firm aspires. These lateral appointments are in addition to the two promotions to the partnership announced in May 2021 of Rebecca Davison and Jade Chalmers.
The firm has continued to attract high quality work from both existing and new clients. Some highlights include:
- Advising on the joint venture between Galliard Homes and Apsley House Capital on the forward funding of a regeneration scheme in Birmingham by Swedish residential giant Heimstaden Bostad for £160m,
- Advising on the development of Cellarhead, the largest battery storage project in the UK, one of the key technologies required to achieve the UK's net zero targets,
- Leading the independent review of governance at Yorkshire County Cricket Club following allegations of race discrimination which had created a major crisis at the Club,
- Providing legal and sponsor support to Octopus Investments for "Octopus Future Generations” as it launched its first new Venture Capital Trust in ten years,
- Acting for the former Director of Treasury and Deputy Finance Minister of Mozambique in a claim against Credit Suisse.
The high quality of work undertaken and the continuing investment in the firm’s people has led to a further improvement in the rankings achieved in the major legal directories and recognition in The Times’ Best Law Firms guide. 20 Howard Kennedy lawyers were individually ranked in Chambers UK, with several Next Gen lawyers being recognised for the first time. Similar recognition was achieved in the Chambers High Net Worth Directory, with a further eight partners ranked.
Managing Partner Craig Emden said, “Growing our revenue is important as it enables us to invest in our people, technology and working practices, which ultimately benefits our clients. We have developed a robust and practical plan, which we are now implementing and beginning to see the results in the high-quality talent and work that we are attracting.
“In order to achieve our goals, including reaching annual revenue, of £80m, we acknowledge that we need to be bold. Recognising the need to enable individual growth for those already at the firm, and for those from outside the firm wishing to join our partnership, we have introduced a new career level as an enhancement to our all-equity partnership. Under the new two-tier structure, a newly created level has been introduced for those wishing to join the partnership as partners on a fixed share basis with an equity stake in the firm.
“Our progress on the strategy will enable us to continue to deliver strong growth in the current financial year. The strength of our practice also puts us in a strong position to consider other growth options, should this help us achieve our objectives."
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