Clyde & Co
It was yet another year of major expansion for Clyde & Co, culminating with its ultimately successful merger talks with rival Barlow Lyde & Gilbert (BLG).
Turnover (£m): 212
Average PEP: 605
Equity spread (£k):285-1,026
Profit margin (%):29
RPL (£k): 340
Vision – 
Execution –
Governance –
Here are the basic facts: turnover broke through the £200m barrier, up by 10 per cent, from £192m to £212m; net profit jumped 13.2 per cent, from £54.5m to £61.7m; and the firm’s 102 equity partners took home £605,000, which was the same level as last year.
The firm’s headcount has expanded rapidly, with Clydes making 24 lateral hires in the past financial year. Partner headcount has risen by 18 to 182, while the equity partnership stands at 102 compared with 91 last year. This has not stopped profits growing for the firm’s highest-earning equity partners, who saw the top end of equity break through the £1m barrier, from £885,000 to £1.02m. The bottom end remained static at £285,000.
A bonus pool has been created for those at the top of lockstep, with 5 per cent of profit distributed to those at plateau. The firm operates a 10-year modified lockstep, from 40 to 100 points. Partners move through gates every three years, reaching plateau within 10 years.
All this while the firm has invested heavily internally, spending £6m on a new IT network and negotiating a 2 August office move. The timing of the move was merely coincidental to the fact that its senior management team, made up of chief executive Peter Hasson and senior partner of 27 years Michael Payton, has since March been negotiating the firm’s merger with its new next-door neighbour BLG. The move will go ahead in November and will transform Clydes into a global leader in insurance with a strong domestic network of offices. This can only add to the £124m (58.5 per cent of total turnover) generated by the firm’s current UK offices in the past financial year. Overseas the firm will have strengthened bases in Brazil, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.
