Wragges guards against recession” />Wragge & Co is aiming to boost the turnover of its public sector group to 25 per cent of total firm revenue in a bid to hedge against a downturn in the private sector.
The goal would see the public sector group challenge the firm’s property team for dominance. The latter currently accounts for 27 per cent of the firm’s total £101.3m turnover and is its biggest practice group.
The head of Wragges’ local government group Mark Greenburgh said: “Public sector clients are dependable, punctual payers; the work’s counter-cyclical and there’s more and more of it.”
As part of the strategy the firm is seeking to double the local government group’s turnover from its present £5.5m to £10m by 2010.
This month the firm’s public sector group currently accounts for between 15 and 18 per cent of total revenue, a figure that will be boosted to 25 per cent.
The firm has recruited Claer Lloyd-Jones, Meic Sullivan-Gould’s predecessor as director of law and democratic services at the London Borough of Hackney, as a part-time consultant on strategy and training.
Lloyd-Jones works at Rockpools, the specialist consultant and recruiter, which boasts Nick Raynsford MP, former Minister of State for Local Government and the Regions, as a non-executive director.
Wragges also employs Sir Michael Lyons, who is currently preparing the Government’s report into local government, as a non-executive director.
Greenburgh and regeneration head Stephen Sellers were two of the six associates promoted to the partnership this financial year.
In July 2003 Greenburgh was also appointed to the advisory panel for ‘beacon councils’, the Government scheme to highlight top-performing local authorities.
