PI specialist is thirtieth alternative business structure
The former president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has steered his firm to alternative business structure status.
David Bott, who stood down as president in April, will bring practice manager Paul Hinchcliffe and finance manager Gary Froggatt, both non-solicitors, into equity partner status at Bott & Co (Hinchcliffe, Bott and Froggatt are pictured left to right).
The north-west personal injury specialist is now the 30th ABS approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. In a statement, Bott said the change in status ‘increases our readiness’ to take on the changes that will arise from the Jackson reforms next April.
Hinchcliffe added: ‘We will use this ABS licence as a springboard to developing the business and show the world how modern and forward-thinking we are.’
Bott was a vocal critic of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, most of which comes into force next year, last year describing the cuts to legal aid and restrictions to no win, no fee as a ‘savage blow’ to patients who had suffered an injury.
Bott & Co was founded in 2011 by Bott, Hinchcliffe and Froggatt.
In 2011/12 it posted a turnover of £12.9m, of which £471,386 was profit. It has 10 solicitors among 30 fee-earners at offices in Cheshire and London.
Comments
Fascinating!
I cannot believe that this "story" has not been picked up by any of the major broadsheets. Fascinating stuff indeed!
"We will use this ABS licence as a springboard to developing the business and show the world how modern and forward-thinking we are." - If you have nothing sensible to say just be quiet.
On a different note, I am thinking of getting a bank loan to refurbish my offices, would the LSG like to write a piece on that?
PI Business in 30th ABS
With profit at 3.654% they will crush the competition. I can't see anyone doing it any cheaper or wanting to.
Hey now, don't be unkind.
Hey now, don't be unkind. This new firm will be much better than all the other firms. That's because a "practice manager" and a "finance manager" will be in charge. (One presumes that in this firm in the past, and in other firms, they do not manage their practice, nor do they manage their finances).
Vive la révolution!
PS Somebody somewhere needs a telling off! The press release (which I assume is what the Gazette has printed verbatim) did not mention:-
or
Must try harder!
You must be jokimg
A 12m turnover with 30 fee earners is fantastic in my humble opinion. 400k pc per fee earner!!
A small profit margin demonstrates to me that most of the surplus is being ploughed back in to expansion programmes. Surely among all the side splitting wit and sarcasm of the above posters that point is easy to pick out?
Why does it demonstrate that?
Why does it demonstrate that? If that's what's happening great-but nothing actually says that.
Turnover is vanity; profit is
Turnover is vanity; profit is sanity.
For example, are they including disbursements in that turnover figure? What led you to conclude that there was a "surplus" anyway - if the turnover is £100million, but the costs of sales is £99,999,000 for example, there will be no surplus to invest in anything.
How much of the "profit" is based on sales, and how much on increase in work-in-progress from one accounting year to the next? What are the fixed costs of the business?
Without answering the above (and many more questions) one can not comment on the financial standing of this business, positive or negative.
In fact, correct me if I'm
In fact, correct me if I'm wrong (I'm no accountant) but profit re-invested / shareholders funds / capital retained is still listed as part of the headline profit figure, is it not?
So it doesn't show that the "surplus" is being ploughed back - it shows that the profit is 4% of sales. Of that profit, the owners may choose to reinvest some, but the owners have never received any money other than the profit.