Morgan Cole
UK 200 RESULTS 2010
Movement since 2009
Turnover (£M):
Profit per equity partner (£K):
Earnings per partner (£K):
Equity spread (£K):
Net profit (£M):
Profit margin (%):
Revenue per fee-earner (£K):
Revenue per lawyer (£K):
Revenue per partner (£K):
Revenue per equity partner (£K):
Total number of fee-earners:
Total number of qualified lawyers:
Total number of partners:
Total number of equity partners:
Total number of female partners:
Total number of female equity partners:
Total number of staff:
Leverage ratio (fee-earners per equity partner):
UP
36.04
193
174.81
158-212
6.8
19
105.4
208.3
667.4
1,060.0
342
173
54
34
15
11
530
4.09
It was a year of consolidation and cost watching for Morgan Cole, which officially became an LLP on 1 April 2010.
The firm centred its catastrophic injury team on Bristol to augment its acquisition of four-partner CIP Solicitors in 2008-09, a boutique that was on the panels of three of Morgan Cole’s biggest insurance clients – National Farmer’s Union Mutual, Aviva and Axa. That acquisition helped Morgan Cole meet its 2009-10 revenue target of £36m.
Although the number of qualified lawyers increased a notch, from 166 to 173, the number of non-qualified lawyer fee-earners crept up by 40 last year. This was mainly in the insurance practice, which accounts for some £14m, or 39 per cent, of total turnover – an increase from last year’s £10.2m and also a growth of the share of turnover of nine percentage points.
The public sector practice, which acts for the Department of Health, the Welsh Assembly and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, turned over £7.6m, representing 21 per cent of the total revenue.
Morgan Cole operates a modified lockstep. Partners typically take six years to reach plateau, although in exceptional cases they can be accelerated.
The firm recently moved to a taper system to take account of partners nearing retirement and it operates a small bonus pool on top.
Pricing pressures in its key sectors of health and insurance notwithstanding, Morgan Cole’s net profit dipped only slightly to £6.8m (compared with last year’s £7.8m), although its profit margin fell from 23 per cent to 19 per cent.
The speed of cash collection slowed, with lockup creeping up by 10 days to 131, but the firm is targeting 120 days next year.
Average profit per equity partner dropped from £218,000 in 2008-09 to £193,000 in 2009-10. The equity spread narrowed from £147,000-£238,000 to £158,000- £212,000. The change in spread reflected the fact that Morgan Cole made no partner promotions, so the bottom rung of the equity ladder was unpeopled, while top earners saw their profits diminished due to the pressure on margins.
UK 200 RESULTS 2009
Movement since 2008
Turnover (£M):
Profit per equity partner (£K):
Earnings per partner (£K):
Equity spread (£K):
Net profit (£M):
Profit margin (%):
Revenue per fee-earner (£K):
Revenue per lawyer (£K):
Revenue per partner (£K):
Revenue per equity partner (£K):
Total number of fee-earners:
Total number of qualified lawyers:
Total number of partners:
Total number of equity partners:
Total number of female partners:
Total number of female equity partners:
Total number of staff:
Leverage ratio (fee-earners per equity partner):
UP
33.5
218
179.2
147 - 238
7.8
23
110
202
632
931
304
166
53
36
13
11
492
3.61
Welsh firm Morgan Cole has finally recovered from a troubled period at the start of the decade, which saw sluggish growth and partner departures.
In the 2008-09 financial year, revenue grew by 4 per cent from £32.1m to £33.5m, while PEP was down by a better-than-market-average 10 per cent to £218,000.
At the end of the current year the firm is likely to move further up the UK 200 table following its merger with Bristol insurance boutique CIP Solicitors in January.
Morgan Cole is budgeting for a combined turnover of around £36m in 2009-10, with the expanded insurance practice now accounting for around 30 per cent of the firm’s income.
Other important practices are construction and public sector. The firm has won a place on the first panel set up by the Welsh Assembly and has a leading healthcare practice in the region.
The firm dumped its lockstep in 2001, moving to a merit-based compensation system for its equity partners.
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