The leader of Newcastle law firm Sintons has hailed its staff鈥檚 commitment, after seeing group turnover remain relatively stable despite the 鈥渦nprecedented鈥 challenges of the pandemic.
The firm has published accounts for the year ended March 31 2021 鈥 the first since the sale of the firm鈥檚 defendant insurance business in September 2019 鈥 which show turnover of 拢13.2m, a drop on the previous 14 months鈥 turnover of 拢17.5m.
However, operating profit over the two periods for continuing operations rose from 拢3.65m to 拢4.96m, and the firm saw only a slight reduction in fee income of 拢400,000 over a comparative 12-month period.
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Managing partner Christopher Welch said that a sustained reduction in expenditure on things such as travel and event-led marketing helped to improve the firm鈥檚 operating profits.
He said the firm鈥檚 financial performance in challenging times reinforced its confidence for the future and the ongoing investment it is making in people, systems and facilities.
Since the year end, the firm, which marked its 125th anniversary last year, has invested a further 拢750,000 in IT system upgrades and has set aside 拢300,000 for the upgrade of office facilities.
Mr Welch said: 鈥漈his investment is all part of Sintons鈥 commitment to creating a working environment in which colleagues can thrive whilst delivering the highest quality work for the firm鈥檚 clients using the most secure IT systems.
鈥淚t is fair to say that at the start of the pandemic, like most businesses, we were anxious to see how work levels would hold up and how successful fully remote working would be for our entire workforce.
鈥淭hese really were uncharted waters for all businesses, and we had just launched a major rebrand as we entered the first national lockdown. I am very proud of how the entire firm embraced the changing circumstances. Our robust IT systems coupled with the dedication and resilience of our people, allowed us to provide uninterrupted quality services to all our clients whilst at all times ensuring the health and well-being of our people.鈥
Mr Welch also said the company looked for ways to overcome the challenges of reaching existing and potential clients.
He said: 鈥淗aving devised a podcast series during the pandemic which has now been accessed by 4.75m listeners, we have further demonstrated our ability to adapt to changing circumstances and find new and innovative ways to continue to deliver the service our clients have come to know and expect.鈥
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Mr Welch said the firm remains confident for the future, highlighting strong work levels in the current financial year across all parts of the firm鈥檚 operations, with volumes reaching 鈥渦nprecedented鈥 levels in some areas.
He added: 鈥淧art of our strength has been that we are, and will remain, a full service law firm serving all the needs of our clients based here in the North East and further afield.
鈥淚t is this ability to look after our clients at every stage of their personal and business lives that we know enables us, as a firm, to build long lasting relationships with our clients which continue in these still unpredictable times.鈥
