Pannone

Turnover at Pannone fell by 3 per cent in 2011–12 from £47.5m to £46m, although average profit per equity partner (PEP) rose by 8 per cent from £207,600 in 2010–11 to 224,000 in 2011–12.

Managing partner Emma Holt said the rise in average profit was the result of the firm cutting costs by £1.5m. The fall in fee income was partly attributed to the closure of Pannone’s offices in Hale and Alderley Edge, which saw 12 redundancies in its construction, road traffic accident and family teams in Manchester. In November 2012 the firm announced it was making a second round of redundancies with as many as 16 lawyer and support staff positions facing the axe across the firm's corporate services, dispute resolution and regulatory divisions.

Pannone is among those firms that have looked to capitalise on the legislative changes in the UK. In May 2011, Pannone launched a white-label division called Affinity Solutions to capitalise on the new opportunities arising out of the Legal Services Act. Affinity Solutions partners with companies from a number of industries including retailers, financial services, utilities and insurers to offer their customers own-label legal services.

At a more nuts and bolts level Pannone also moved its personal injury and clinical negligence to cash billing. This means that a bill is not raised until Pannone has received the cash from a client. There is no impact on turnover as a result as the revenue is still recognised but the matter is recorded into WIP rather than into debtors, part of a drive to achieve a better performance in those areas.