Investment reaps rewards as Dickinson Dees’ profits leap

In the year ending April 30 2012, profits rose 10 per cent to £12.1m, while turnover increased by 2.4 per cent to £46.1m.

The Yorkshire Post understands that the profit per equity partner is expected to be in the region of £240,000 to £250,000, compared with a figure of around £222,000 last year.

Managing partner Jonathan Blair said the Leeds office, which was officially launched last month, had got off to a good start and the firm’s turnover next year is expected to rise by between three and five per cent, despite the uncertain economic climate.

Dickinson Dees’ Leeds office is set to hire two more senior figures in the next three to six months in areas that are “core to the business”, according to Mr Blair.

Newcastle-based Dickinson Dees, which can trace its roots back to the 1780s, opened an office in York in 2007 when it acquired Philip Ashworth & Co. The Yorkshire operation’s turnover has risen from £1m to £4.5m since then. In 2011, Dickinson Dees announced that it was moving its York office to Leeds because it was “the next logical step” in its development.

Dickinson Dees opened its Leeds office, which has 60 staff, at Whitehall Riverside on April 10. Only two members of the legal staff in York decided not to join the Leeds office. Yesterday, Mr Blair said 10 per cent of the firm’s income came from Yorkshire-based fee earners. The firm was ranked 58 in a list of the top 100 law firms, compiled by the Lawyer magazine in August 2011. In March, it was revealed Mark Owen, the head of rival Pinsent Masons office in Leeds, was joining Dickinson Dees as a property partner. Mr Owen is leading the Yorkshire-based property practice.

Mr Blair added: “We are pleased that we have been able to post a strong result in what continues to be a difficult climate for the professional services sector. We have a clear vision for the direction in which the firm is heading and we are continuing to invest in new markets which is already being reflected in these results.”

In the last 12 months, Dickinson Dees acted on corporate deals worth more than £2.3bn for clients such as Melrose and Bellway, one of the UK’s largest housebuilders. It has also won new clients including Liverpool City Council and Leeds City College.

Significant deals included advising on the $55.6m acquisition of Spanish firm Uquifa by Indian chemicals manufacturer Vivimed Labs.

Mr Blair added: “While we are pleased with our results, the fact remains that we are still operating in a difficult economic environment. Despite this, and the level of investment into the firm, we have posted a strong set of results giving us the right platform from which to continue to grow our business as we look ahead to the next 12 months.”

Last year, Richard Flanagan, the president of York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said Dickinson Dees’ decision to move from York to Leeds was a commercial one, and he understood the firm’s reasoning. However, Mr Flanagan stressed that York would still be viewed as an excellent place to work, live and invest.