Turnover up but profits down at Osborne Clarke

By Peter Davison

5 July 2023

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Conrad Davies, Osborne Clarke's UK managing partner, with Lara Burch, partner and Head of Osborne Clarke's Bristol office

Law firm Osborne Clarke – which has a significant presence in Bristol – has reported a nine per cent increase in revenue, but a 3.2 per cent dip in profits for the year to March 31.

The practice recorded UK income of £217.3 million, up from £199.1 million in 2021/22. UK net profit was £74.7 million compared with £77.2 million, which the firm described as 'broadly in line with last year'.

Profit per equity partner fell by 13.7 million, to £687,000 from £796,000 in 2021/22.

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Conrad Davies, Osborne Clarke's UK managing partner, who is based in the firm's Bristol office, said: "We've had another set of strong results in what has been a challenging economic market, which is a credit to the outstanding efforts and dedication of our teams across the UK.

"Even though it's been a tougher trading environment, we've made a number of targeted investments to grow our headcount, increase the reward we pay our people and accelerate the roll out of various key change programmes across our legal operations.

"These investments will help us to attract and retain talent, strengthen our client offering and future-proof the performance of our business.”

Lara Burch, partner and head of Osborne Clarke's Bristol office, said: "It's great to see another strong set of results after what has been a challenging year in the market.

"Despite these conditions, the firm has made a number of significant investments in its people and wider business, ensuring that we continue to grow and deliver outstanding work for our clients.

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"In Bristol, a key highlight was our move to new offices at Halo, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to the South West market.

"Halo embodies a number of our key priorities as a firm, with its strong sustainability credentials and clear focus on employee wellbeing.

"We are delighted with our new home in Bristol - it marks another step towards our sustainability and carbon reduction targets, which we are constantly working to achieve through our Osborne Clarke for Good framework."

By Peter Davison

Peter Davison is deputy editor of The Business Magazine. He has spent his life in journalism – doing work experience in newsrooms in and around Bristol while still at school, and landing his first job on a local newspaper aged 19. By 28 he was the youngest newspaper editor in the country.

An early advocate of online news, he spent the first years of the 2000s telling his bosses that the internet posed both the biggest opportunity and greatest threat to the newspaper industry and the art of journalism. He was right on both counts.

Since 2006 he has enjoyed a career as a freelance journalist. He lives in rural Wiltshire with one wife, two children, and three cats.