Cash available to share among the members of prominent claimant and trade union firm Thompsons almost halved last year as profits and revenue dropped.

Thompsons Solicitors reported this week that income for the year ended 30 April 2022 fell 3% to £55m, while operating profit came down 23% to £7.55m.

The firm said that profit for the financial year available for members dropped from £2.9m in 2021 to £1.56m last year.

In their members’ report, chief executive Clare Mellor and director Michelle Cronin said the fall was ‘largely attributable to the decrease in operating income and an increase in operating expenses most notably staff costs’.

The group’s assets remained almost the same at £12.9m although cash reserves fell from £7.6m to £2.8m.

In its notes on financial performance, the firm said it continued to have a ‘healthy cash position’ at year end and said that operating profit – whilst lower than the previous year – ‘remained strong and is in line with pre-pandemic levels’.

The key drivers of going concern for the claimant firm will be activity levels and working capital management – particularly the time it takes for client invoices to be paid.

The assessment added: ‘The firm has also reviewed the likely impact on employment work and anticipates that the pandemic and its impact on the economy, together with ongoing challenges to protect existing rights, is likely to increase the demand for legal advice from their union clients.’

Average staff numbers fell from 781 to 760, while the number of case handlers rose slightly, but staff costs went up 4% to £33.8m. The highest remuneration of a member for the year was a total of £450,000, down from £590,000 the year before.

Meanwhile, Thompsons continues to be a prominent critic of the government’s proposed Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, which was published on Tuesday. Richard Arthur, head of trade union law at Thompsons, said: ‘The bill is far more sweeping than the government suggested, covering workers in education and border security that [business secretary] Grant Shapps chose not to mention as he promoted the bill on the airwaves.

‘This is a blunt instrument wheeled out to threaten unions alongside holding sham talks. It will face extensive challenge in both parliament and the courts.’

 

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