Listed firm Knights has revealed that dozens of people have been made redundant as part of its acquisition of Essex firm Birkett Long - although some fee-earning jobs have been created.
The firm opened a redundancy consultation last month following the announcement that Knights would buy the Colchester-headquartered business in a deal eventually priced at £16.6m. According to Companies House, the Birkett Long LLP has 21 members. The acquisition involves an upfront payment of £10m, with £6.6m in instalment payments spread over the next three years.
The business model for Knights is well established, with fee earners at acquired firms kept on while support staff are let go, replaced by a central back-office function.
Knights today confirmed that 65 jobs have been lost in total, coinciding with the deal being completed.
A spokesperson said: ‘Our acquisition completed today with 11 colleagues previously put at risk being retained with the creation of 10 additional fee-earning roles. We appreciate this is difficult for those involved and worked with everyone throughout the consultation process to explore roles in our business. None of the lawyers were ever at risk of redundancy.’
The acquisition effectively means the Birkett Long name, which goes back more than 200 years, has disappeared. A notice on the firm’s old website states that the current service for clients will not change.
Following receipt of FCA approval, Knights has also completed the acquisition of Birkett Long IFA LLP, the independent financial advisory business also owned by the members of Birkett Long.
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Sarah Humphryes, former Birkett Long marketing manager, posted on Linkedin that she was one of those made redundant and that it was ‘heartbreaking to see so much history disappear overnight’. She thanked colleagues for their support and added she was grateful to have worked in such a positive team.
‘I believed in everything Birkett Long was, its history, dedication to its people and community,’ she said. ‘As of today, it no longer exists and it’s hard. To have that taken away, not just from me but from so many others is difficult.’
Knights’ acquisitions have previously created headlines for the support staff redundancies that follow from the deal. In 2023, the former owner of one practice publicly described his disappointment at the jobs cut from Cumbria firm Baines Wilson.
According to its most recent accounts, Knights paid £1.3m in redundancy and reorganisation costs in the year ended 30 April 2024. In the first six months of 2024/25, it paid a further £442,000.
Revenue increase by 5% in the six months to 31 October 2024, with underlying profit before tax up 26% to £14.6m. Since the announcement to acquire Birkett Long, shares in Knights Group Holdings plc have risen from 150p to a year-long high of 181.5p.
