One of the UK’s biggest conveyancing firms enjoyed a stunning turnaround in fortunes in the last year, its accounts have revealed. O’Neill Patient Solicitors LLP, based in the north west, reported an operating profit of £2.8m in its full-year results for 2024. This followed a 2023 year in which the business reported an operating loss of £1.3m.

In total, the five members were able to share £4.8m at the end of the year.

The annual results also give an insight into the continuing importance of interest receivable on client accounts – particularly for firms heavily involved in conveyancing. Income from this interest came to £5.1m in total – up from £4m the previous year.

The issue of client account interest has been heavily debated this year, with the government mooting the idea of redistributing this money to access to justice projects and the Solicitors Regulation Authority consulting on the idea of scrapping the client account altogether.

The Law Society’s benchmarking survey earlier this year found that more than a fifth of profit per equity partner was generated through client account interest in the latest financial year.

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O'Neill Patient's accounts also show that turnover increased by 21% in 2024 to almost £40m, with net current assets of £22m. Cash reserves increased from £3m to £4m, while staff numbers remained around 520.

The figures are in contrast to 2023, when turnover fell and the business recorded a loss, mainly caused by the ongoing impact of external market factors. The firm had also been affected by a cyber incident in 2023 which had affected its infrastructure service provider.

The accounts say that improvement was driven by more favourable market and economic conditions compared to 2023, mainly driven by increased conveyancing volumes which were up by 19%. The firm said its increase in interest income was a consequence of the higher completion volumes and increases to interest rates. Ongoing improvements to internal processes also had an effect on results.

In July, the firm announced that it had completed 5,000 remortgages in a single day – the highest in the firm’s history.

'This is more than a number – it’s a demonstration of what happens when operational planning, smart tech, and brilliant people align,’ said Warren Martin, director of operations. ‘Our teams have long prepared and supported significantly higher volumes, and this performance shows just how far we’ve come in scaling without compromising quality or wellbeing.’

 

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