Profits at Irwin Mitchell grew faster than revenue in the last financial year as the group reaped the benefits of an investment programme.

The company today reported a 6% increase in profits for the year ended 30 April, with turnover up 3.9% to £210.6m.

The group saw profits fall 8.5% to £17.1m in 2013/14 as it invested in growth and infrastructure. The group did not disclose profit per equity partner.

Andrew Tucker, group chief executive, said that investment is now bearing fruit and he predicted the company will grow further in the coming year to become the ‘legal brand of choice’.

‘In 2013/14, we took very deliberate decisions to sacrifice a proportion of profit to invest even further in our business and we are beginning to see the return on those and earlier investments with both an increase in income and profit before tax,’ he said.

‘We have continued with our investment strategy during 2014/15 and this is evident not just in the acquisitions and partner hires that we have made, but in our investment in high-profile marketing campaigns, our commitment to widening our UK-wide footprint with new office openings and further investment in our infrastructure.’

The group said the fastest growing section was its business legal services division, which recorded a double-digit increase in turnover.

Personal legal services increased turnover by 2%, despite a fall in income from volume personal injury work.

The group includes the flagship Irwin Mitchell law firm as well as IM Asset Management Ltd, debt legal services business Ascent and private wealth firm Berkeley Law, which was acquired last year.

During the 2014/15 year, the group made 29 appointments at partner level and promoted 10 people to partner. Having opened an office in Southampton the previous year, it expanded into Cambridge in 2014/15.

In May, it announced it had opened a new consulting office in Middlesbrough and last month, it announced its seventh acquisition since 2012, the commercial debt recovery division of P&A Receivables Services.

There continues to be speculation that Irwin Mitchell could follow Gateley on to the stock market, though a spokesman said this is only ‘an option’ that would apply to any alternative business structure and that there is no decision yet.

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