Howard Kennedy announced today that it posted revenue over £60m for the first time last year as the London-based firm plans a ‘bold’ strategy to push annual turnover to £80m.

Revenue increased by 6% from £56.9m to a record £60.5m in the year ending 30 April 2022, driven in part by ‘robust’ growth in the firm’s specialist business crime team – which recorded a 24% increase in income – as well as its construction (20%) and real estate transactional (18%) practices. This put profit up by 2% to £16.7m, though average profit per equity partner (PEP) fell by 9% from £348,000 to £315,000.

The firm said that the ‘modest’ increase in profit reflected its ‘continuing investment in people and technology across both fee earners and business services in line with the growth strategy launched last year’, while PEP dropped ‘as a result of the investment in new partners’.

Howard Kennedy’s managing partner Craig Emden said: ‘Growing our revenue is important as it enables us to invest in our people, technology and working practices, which ultimately benefits our clients. We have developed a robust and practical plan, which we are now implementing and beginning to see the results in the high-quality talent and work that we are attracting.

‘In order to achieve our goals, including reaching annual revenue of £80m, we acknowledge that we need to be bold,’ he said. To attract new joiners, as well as enabling progression within the firm, it has created a new level for those wishing to join the partnership as partners on a fixed share basis. 'The strength of our practice also puts us in a strong position to consider other growth options,' Emden said.