Minster Law

Minster Law had a strong 2011–12, boosting turnover by 26.6 per cent to break the £100m barrier for the first time and posting a total revenue of £104.1m.

Net profit rose by a whopping 214 per cent from £700,000 to £2.2m in 2011–12. However, for the year ended April 2012, no dividends were declared and the profits for the year were fully retained within the business (Minster is a limited company so consequently profits are distributed to shareholders by way of dividends or re-invested in the business).

Minster retained its position as the UK’s largest road traffic accident (RTA) personal injury (PI) practice, handling 60,000 PI claims in the 2011–12 financial year. The firm scored a major coup when it signed an exclusive contract to provide legal services to clients for one of the UK’s leading household brokers, a contract which is estimated to have contributed around £20-£25m to last year’s turnover. The firm has also seen significant growth within its catastrophic injury practice, which now comprises around 100 people.

Minster, which has offices in York and Wakefield, has grown in headcount, with 31 qualified lawyers and 198 fee-earners generating 2011–12's revenue. The firm’s total number of staff increased from 667 to 732. In spite of these increases, Minster kept overheads down partly by completing a project to free up around 20,000 square feet of office space by going paperless. This project formed part of the firm’s internal change programme, “Horizon”, which delivers the firm’s strategic plans for the year ahead.

The firm has also restructured its business by implementing a technology led, skills-based approach within its three main operational centres. This move has allowed Minster to maximise the profit costs in each part of the business, according to the firm’s director of legal services Craig Underwood.

Minster’s corporate structure sees fee-earners incentivised by bonuses paid as a percentage of the fees rendered. A bonus scheme is also in place to reward the management team on an annual basis in line with the firm’s performance. Chairman Adrian Christmas remains the firm’s sole shareholder while the management committee consists of Christmas, Underwood, chief executive Stuart Ramsey, the heads of human resources, operations and finance and the CIO.