What’s more, last year the firm’s net profit soared from £2.4m to £3.7m.
And making the most of these profits, the firm has invested in hiring no less than 17 staff in the past nine months, bringing its headcount to 138 fee-earners. It has also made two important additions to its internal management team in the form of Paul Harker as the firm’s new head of IT last July and Rob Adams, the firm’s first head of risk and compliance, in January.
While things have not always been rosy at the firm - 16 members of staff had to be let go in 2010 - senior partner Romaine Thompson maintains that a confident approach has been vital in the ups and downs of recent years.
“We’ve stuck at what we think is the right thing to do and the key has been not to lose our nerve and follow the market, but to keep looking to find solutions to needs rather than sell something that is not needed,” she stresses.
The firm’s niche expertise in areas such as social housing, health and social care, local government, education and faith communities has also helped it to stand out and it was this rather unusual mix of skill sets that secured the firm’s recent mandate acting for Staffordshire County Council as it embarked on a £230m landmark NHS project - the largest integration of council and NHS services in England to date.
While Thompson insists there is no “magic formula” that has driven the firm’s success in the past 14 years, incremental changes such as the firm’s new IT strategy that will come into force later this year have helped make it a desirable working environment and consolidate its reputation.
A number of the recent hires have been lawyers returning to the firm, something Thompson finds deeply encouraging.
“People move for all kinds of reasons and it’s been such a positive thing to see people choosing to return to the firm - it must mean we’re doing something right,” she says.
Next in our series of ebriefings on the Government’s Green Paper: Transforming public procurement; looking at the Chapter 4 proposal to change the basis of contract awards.
The Academies Financial Handbook is updated annually by the Department for Education and the Education and Skills Funding Agency; it contains a number of governance requirements for academy trusts.
Supreme Court publishes key decision for those working in the UK’s gig economy.
The 'Chocolate Snowman Appeal' is an amazing initiative that Anthony Collins Solicitors' (ACS) employees take part in every year.
The Building Safety Bill (the Bill) is said to be the most significant and wide-ranging change to the regulatory environment for higher risk building (HRBs) for over 45 years.
On 4 November 2020, the Restriction of Public Exit Payments Regulations 2020 (the Regulations) came into force; exit payments for the public sector were capped at £95,000.
The case was brought by the Official Receiver who sought disqualification orders under section 6 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (CDDA 1986) against the seven trustees of Kids Company and its CEO. It illustrates well the tension between the role of a fulltime paid CEO of a large charity and the role of its board as voluntary trustees/directors.
At the end of 2020, The Charity Governance Code was updated or 'refreshed' as it is termed on its website.
Anthony Collins Solicitors is today (Thursday 11 February) revealing the scale of its social impact during 2020.
In their first podcast of this series, current and future trainees will discuss their journey and route to securing a training contract at Anthony Collins Solicitors.
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