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Manchester-headquartered commercial law firm DWF has reported a growth in half-year revenues as ‘activity levels increase towards pre-covid levels’.

The listed company said group revenue grew 14 per cent, up from £14m reported for the same period last year.

The group’s underlying adjusted pre-tax profit was £13m for the six month period, which is said was “close” to the full-year comparator of £14m.

Chief executive Sir Nigel Knowles said the group has seen a ‘pleasing recovery’ of the ‘dip’ caused by Covid-19.

“We have prioritised organic growth, acquisition integration and operational efficiency and this focus, combined with our cost reduction measures, has delivered strong profit improvement for the Group,” he said.

“We have also increased our focus on working capital and lockup and this is reflected in our net debt reduction and lockup day improvement, further strengthening our balance sheet.

“The pipeline of work is encouraging despite the challenging economic environment, we continue to selectively hire partners to strengthen and expand our offering in key practice groups, and our clients are increasingly recognising the benefits of our integrated service offering.” 

He continued: “We believe now more than ever that our combination of advisory, managed and connected services sets us apart from other legal services providers. 

“As we move into the second half of the year, we remain cautiously optimistic about H2 and will continue to deliver our strategy whilst focusing, as always, on the needs of our clients.”

The group said its acquisitions of Mindcrest, which it completed this year, and RCD, announced last year, have made a “strong contribution” to the revenue.