New leaders of a south west firm rescued from administration say they want to expand the business having secured its future.

Pardoes Solicitors was sold under a pre-pack arrangement last month to South West Advocates Limited, a company formed in 2014, keeping its name and transferring existing staff and clients to the new business.

The traditional partnership structure has been phased out, with Bhavani Hogarty appointed as chief executive and chartered accountant Michael Miller the new chief operating officer and finance director.

Miller, who was finance director with listed firm Rosenblatt from 2014 to 2016, said revenue was hit by the pandemic but Pardoes was still fundamentally in a strong position.

‘Pre-pandemic it was a business doing £3.5m turnover with 90 staff and the first full year [of lockdown] it was £2.5m turnover and the staff had to be reduced to 50,’ said Miller. ‘But a lot of the costs were still there around offices and loans that had been taken out which needed to be repaid.’

South West Advocates Limited was a dormant business which was seen to be the ideal vehicle for reviving the business under a new structure. Although the administrators’ report on Pardoes has yet to be published, there are likely to be losses for creditors. The new owners insist the sale was the only way to protect jobs and keep the business going under new owners.

Mike Miller

Chartered accountant Michael Miller is the new chief operating officer and finance director

The firm will now apply to become an alternative business structure to accommodate non-lawyers into the management and potentially new investors.

Since news of the administration broke, the firm has stressed to clients and the south west community that Pardoes is open for business and looking to expand.

‘As I started to work with the team it was obvious the firm has some great strengths,’ said Miller. ‘It is so embedded in the community and does a lot of private client work. It has a great name [and] it will very quickly regrow the revenue. One of the strategies going forward is to look for complementary businesses looking for succession plans where we can buy them into our business. There is an opportunity to find a good private client or family team.’

The firm is seeking to find new offices and will go paperless as part of a planned adoption of 'smarter working practices'. It has also started a recruitment drive for solicitors with more than three years’ experience, including those who will work in public law through its legal aid licence.