For the 2020/2021 financial year, group profit (including our subsidiary Ledingham Chalmers Financial) was £4million, compared with £3.6million and £3.5million in the previous two reporting periods.
Group turnover was down slightly — £12.3million compared with £12.7million and £12.1million in 2019/2020 and 2018/2019 respectively.
Background
Reading or watching anything over the past 18 months you’d be hard pressed to miss words and phrases like ‘unprecedented’ and ‘year like no other’. That meant the process of making predictions for our business at the start of the pandemic was all the more complex.
What we could see coming was the effort and commitment from colleagues across all our offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Inverness and Stirling, which resulted in a strong performance across the board.
To reflect this, we allocated a £150,000 COVID-19 pot, which has been shared among all those employed by Ledingham Chalmers as at 31 March, 2021: a payment of £1,250 for someone working full-time hours.
Six-figure investment
The pandemic has permanently changed the way we work and support our clients so we have to adapt quickly and effectively to respond.
That six-figure investment will focus on updating our financial management system and processes, plus we'll spend more on our external presence and internal communications.
This includes our website, a new intranet as well as our video conferencing facilities, not least because hybrid working and virtual court hearings, certainly for civil proceedings, are here for the long term.
Hybrid working
Speaking of hybrid working, over a quarter (27%) of our colleagues have agreed hybrid working arrangements in place.
We have always offered flexible options, but this seemed a natural next step.
It’s also an important part of attracting and retaining the best talent to help us grow our business as well as delivering our core values, particularly satisfying and impressing our clients, treating others well and keeping learning.
Growth
Looking to double our revenue to £25million in the next five years is a challenge, but it's the basis of our growth strategy.
Some of our planned, sustainable growth will come organically, including through our continuing strong business development performance.
However, we will also be looking to add to our offering through the likes of hires, acquisitions and mergers.
Firm-wide there have been 26 new starts since 1 January 2021, including 18 new roles, bringing our headcount to 168 including 27 partners.
We have ambitious plans to enhance our commercial offering, including in our private client and rural teams in the north of Scotland.
Recent high-profile hires include Inverness-based partner JP Campbell, who joined in October 2021, and is tasked with growing the private client offering.
Mr Campbell specialises in business succession, estate planning, executry administration, asset protection, trusts and supporting adults with incapacity.
His appointment follows that in April 2020 of Gary Webster, also based in Inverness, who has a remit to grow the rural client base in Moray and the north of Scotland.
If you're interested in joining our team, we're looking for a litigation solicitor to join our team in Edinburgh. If you, or someone you know, fits the bill, please get in touch.
