St Philips chief plays down revenue blip

Birmingham-based set St Philips has ­posted a turnover of £27m – down by 15.6 per cent on the ­previous year’s £32m.

Meanwhile, 11KBW has seen its turnover grow by 6.4 per cent, rising from £14.1m to £15m over the course of the last financial year.

St Philips chief executive Mike ;Kimmons, ;who recently took over the role from Jonathan Fox, said the set’s turnover discrepancy resulted from revenue in the financial year 2006-07 being assessed against income rather than fees billed.

“The significant increase over the £25m claimed for 2005 was accounted for largely by the exceptionally energetic recovery of aged debt following various mergers, acquisitions and the implementation of ­highly ;effective ;credit ­control,” said Kimmons.

Looking ahead to the ­current financial year, ­Kimmons said the legal services marketplace is in a state of considerable flux, adding: “It’s unlikely that vigorous levels of growth in certain practice areas can be sustained, although the set is exploring a number of innovative approaches.”

At 11KBW, joint senior clerk Lucy Pilbro said the set’s turnover increase reflects the underlying strength of its core practice areas of employment, public and education law and ­business protection.

“While we’ve maintained our leadership in these fields, we’ve also seen ­significant ;growth ;in public procurement cases and in our information
law work, where we have ­developed a niche practice,” said Pilbro.

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