Lester Aldridge

Lester Aldridge had another strong year, with turnover rising by 6.6 per cent to £15.2m for the 2011–12 financial year.

The firm’s lateral hiring strategy looks to be starting to pay dividends, with the appointment of Tony Sampson as the firm’s head of restructuring and insolvency in 2010 and the hire of corporate partner Grant Esterhuizen in 2009 ‘coming good’, according to managing partner Michael Giddins.

Property has been another strong area, contributing 30 per cent of 2011–12’s turnover. The firm also won several panel appointments over this period, including advising Honda on repossessions.

Net profit crept up from £4.7m to £4.8m, but average profit per equity partner remained static at £165,000. The equity spread ranged from £104,000 to £249,000.

Lester Aldridge, which has offices in Bournemouth, Hurn and Southampton, moved its London premises to Chancery Lane in September 2011 and the new IT infrastructure and general fit-out costs contributed to a substantial part of the firm’s immediate borrowings last year, which stood at £1.1m.