The Co-op Group has revealed that half-year profits in its legal division have doubled in the first half of this year, with revenues also up. Underlying profit for the six months to 2 July increased from £2m to £4m, while revenue rose by 10% to £22m.
The Co-op said this had been an ‘excellent start’ to the year despite a challenging economic climate for the wider group. An extra 100 legal staff, including, for the first time, apprentices, have been added and practice areas such as probate, where 23% more cases were opened compared with the same period in 2021, have performed strongly.
The group said: ‘The advances we’ve made in the digital space over the last few years and the number of partners we are now working closely with have contributed to this success.
‘Nearly 50% of our clients came to us through digital channels in the first half of 2022. Our growing library of digital tools, support and contact channels is helping us support more clients in whichever way works for them. We’re also seeing more and more clients come to us from partner referrals.’
Co-op Legal Services marks its 10th anniversary as an alternative business structure this year (the company was one of the first three to be authorised by the SRA) and has experienced a fluctuating decade in terms of financial performance.
The company may not have fulfilled some market expectations as a pioneer of the so-called ‘Tesco Law’ by becoming a major consumer law brand, but the business has recovered in recent years with more modest targets.
CLS says its customer satisfaction score for H1 was at 87.2%, an increase of 1.7% on the same period last year.
Over the next the firm has pledged to continue to invest in digital platforms and customer experience to further its 'blended' service offer to more people.
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