Newcastle law firm Sintons says it is showing confidence in its future with continued investment in its infrastructure and people.
The company has posted accounts showing turnover rose from £15.2m to £17.4m in the 14 months to March 31 2020, while total operating profit increased from £5.2m to £6.8m in the period.
In July 2019 Sintons sold its defendant insurance business to North West based Keoghs, a deal which completed two months later.
Accounts show the business was sold for a consideration of £1.7m and, together with net assets of £431,123, recognised a profit of £2m on the disposal.
Sintons said the entire proceeds of sale have been retained and reinvested across all aspects of the business, including neurotrauma and catastrophic injury, alongside its commercial and private client departments.
Despite the sale of the business, which saw the defendant insurance team transfer to Keoghs, overall employee numbers remained steady at 182, compared to the previous year’s 181 staff members, with the number of fee earners rising from 92 to 96.
Profit from continuing operations fell over the 14 months from £4.013m to £3.625m, a decline the firm attributed to an increase in employment costs, reflecting the firm’s ongoing investment in its people.
While the accounts period largely pre-dates the Covid-19 pandemic, the firm said investments in its IT infrastructure has enabled it to carry on servicing its clients’ needs seamlessly during lockdown.
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The firm has also made a series of senior appointments, including Andrew McGowan as head of neurotrauma and partner Hilary Waters, a leading tax litigation lawyer.
Christopher Welch, managing partner of Sintons, said: “Since we were founded in 1896, our absolute commitment has been to delivering a legal service of the highest quality, coupled with an unrivalled personal service, to each and every client. These are the fundamental values of Sintons, and our clients will always be at the centre of everything we do. The ongoing development of the firm is to ensure we deliver this.
“The year of change and development we saw during this accounting period, and the way we adapted to that with continued investment in our business, infrastructure and our people, has seen us create a strong firm equipped for the future. It also put us in the fortunate position of being able to react quickly and efficiently to the unprecedented challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Whilst the outstanding IT systems which we have built over the course of many years of investment assisted us in being able to seamlessly move to a remote working solution, we also have to recognise the sheer commitment and determination of all our people to ensure that whatever challenges came their way, the needs of the clients were still met.
“Our people are, and always will be, our greatest asset, and it is through the investments which we have made in health and wellbeing, training and recruitment that we continue to grow and to service the needs of our clients – on both a local and national basis.
“I see the firm as an integral part of the North East community and it is for this reason that we continued during the year with our programme of committing time to assist with local projects as well as supporting the firm’s nominated charity – North of England Children’s Cancer Research Fund.
“Whilst this current year has many challenges, we know that because of our ongoing investment and the outstanding dedication of our people, we are a business which can have confidence in its long-term future and look forward to supporting our clients and providing them with the outstanding levels of service which go to the heart of the firm’s operations and which they have come to expect.”