Top-25 corporate firm Addleshaw Goddard posted a 20% jump in net profits in 2015-16, but has warned that sales growth this year will be a ‘challenge’.

The rise pushed distributable net profit to £71m for the year ending 30 April 2016, with provisional fee income rising 5% to £202m.

John Joyce (pictured), managing partner at Addleshaw Goddard, said the firm was making good progress on its plan to improve business focus, performance and returns. But he warned about the impact of the Brexit vote on the year ahead.

He said: ‘There will now inevitably be an extended period of uncertainty as a result of the EU referendum and other macro-economic issues.

‘We have seen that reflected in confidence and transactional activity since the start of this year and are thankful that a lot of the measures we have taken over the past two years leave the firm not only in an incredibly strong position but also very well positioned with an improved platform, client portfolio and sector focus.’

He added that while delivering sales growth will be a ‘key imperative’ for the firm this year, it will ‘clearly be a challenge’.

The results follow a year of continued investment in the firm’s key markets in Leeds and Manchester with 25 partner promotions.