Pre-merger Howard Kennedy to cut 10 support staff roles
Howard Kennedy has put 10 support staff on redundancy consultation ahead of its planned merger with Finers Stephens Innocent (FSI).
Mark Dembovsky
The firm said the redundancies were a result of a review of the firm’s internal structure and were not triggered by the merger talks with FSI.
A statement read: “We’re continuously reviewing the structure of the firm and it’s important to stress that this is a standalone Howard Kennedy restructuring process and not related to the merger with Finers Stephens Innocent in any way.
“We’re aiming to make as minimal redundancies as possible with only 10 support roles at risk.”
It comes amid delays to the planned £45m merger between the two firms, which will now go ahead in February instead of November as initially planned (19 November 2012).
Earlier this month Howard Kennedy chief executive Mark Dembovsky told The Lawyer that there would be no large scale reduction of fee-earners and that delays to the merger process had come from issues with “back office alignment”, rather than people (5 November 2012).
Support staff were notified of the consultation yesterday. It is believed that there are currently no similar redundancies planned at FSI.
The merger is being led by Dembovsky and FSI managing partner Paul Millett (8 August 2012). The combined firm will have 351 staff including 88 partners and 125 fee-earners, and a total revenue of £45m, pushing it into the top 60 of The Lawyer UK 200.
View results 10 per page | 20 per page | 50 per page
Readers' comments (36)
Anonymous | 26-Nov-2012 7:42 pm
Unbelievable that some of the 10 people concerned were only informed today. Five days after the press release. So unprofessional.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 27-Nov-2012 2:41 pm
'Unprofessional' is an understatement. From what I have been reading about Howard Kennedy over the last few days they have to be one of the worst firms ever to work. Some management team!
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Teddus Bearus | 29-Nov-2012 9:58 am
HK don't care about their staff at all. They treat them like robots, over working them and de-motivating them simultaneously. Apparently, some of the support staff up for redundancy have already gone. HK treated them exactly the same way last time it made redundancies, and it doesn’t matter what their PR department say, it doesn’t change the facts.
On the upside, when HK and FSI do merge, hopefully HK will move into the FSI offices or a new modern office, which has to be nicer and have better facilities than the HK’s trench of an office.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 29-Nov-2012 1:23 pm
It beggars belief that they make this sort of announcement just before christmas - if they waited just one month they would spare the staff a wretched christmas and would it break the bank - really bad timing and poor judgement all round - this merger is doomed
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 2-Dec-2012 6:26 pm
Fee earners your next at least you got to have turkey at xmas not like the poor hard workers who were made redundant before.
Do you think equity partners care whether they make people redundant before xmas i dont think they do.
Awful decision!!
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 2-Dec-2012 8:07 pm
How appalling. When the market picks up they'll have no staff left. They don't know where they are going or what they are doing and seem to lack the most basic management skills. Good luck FSI staff!
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment