Beachcroft's LLP filing reveals profit drop in 2007-08

Profits at Beachcroft dropped by £4m during the 2007-08 financial year, from £29.3m to £25.1m, as revenue remained static at £114m.

According to the firm's LLP accounts for the period, tangible fixed assets increased in value by £2.6m over the same period. The firm moved into new offices in Bristol in April 2008.

Cash at bank and in hand at £638,000 was slightly higher than the 2007 figure of £497,000, but was still relatively low compared with some peers.

Wragge & Co, which is one place higher than Beachcroft in The Lawyer's UK 200 list of leading firms by turnover, has a turnover of £125.6m and £20.7m in the bank and in hand (TheLawyer.com, 11 December 2008).

Staff costs at Beachcroft grew by £3m from £55.2m in 2007 to £58.1m this year. The biggest single contributing factor was the increase in salaries (including staff bonuses), which grew by £1.7m from £48.6m to £50.3m. Pension costs also expanded, almost doubling from £1.3m to £2.2m. However, the total number of staff at the firm fell by 19 from 1,198 to 1,180.

The highest paid member was paid £456,577 - this fell by £34,000 from the previous year.

Beachcroft was unavailable for comment.

To subscribe to our free Lawyer News Daily news and comment email, click here. Or get the latest news, features and comment as it's published with our free RSS feed here.