Ward Hadaway asks property staff to cut hours to stave off job losses

The North East firm is asking all lawyers and support staff in its property department to reduce their hours over the next three months. The move is being used in a bid to avoid making further redundancies.

A statement released by Ward Hadaway said: “The reduction of hours will be flexible to ensure that client service is not adversely affected and that partners and fee-earners are available for clients as and when they are required.”

After launching a ­redundancy consultation in ­September last year the firm has made a total of 21 staff redundant.

Last month Ward Hadaway announced that its average profit per equity partner figure had fallen 53 per cent in the 2008-09 financial year, down from £408,000 in 2007-08 to £190,000. Over the same period, revenue fell by 6.5 per cent, from £28.4m the year before down to £26.56m.