We have reinforced our commitment to Leicester after investing heavily in a major refurb of our city centre premises.
Our office, on New Walk, has been transformed with an airy and spacious open plan setting, and social space – which includes a pool table, banquette-style booth seating and a bar – to bring employees together and celebrate success. It has been designed for modern, agile working and reflects our vision, values and identity as a vibrant, dynamic and innovative company.
This comes after we announced that we had hit the first milestone of our three-year financial target – growing our after-tax profits by 27% to £3.6 million and boosting turnover by eight per cent to £17.2 million for the year ending May 2019.
For the financial year 2018/19, we had our strongest year in Leicester since we opened our office in the city – with particularly solid financial growth in the private client (41%), real estate (13%), corporate (55%) and dispute resolution (17%) teams. We are expecting another strong year with sustained growth in the 2019/20 financial year after a successful first few months.
Stewart Vandermark, who became our Chief Executive in June 2017, our first leadership change since we were established in 1983, said:
“The refurbishment is part of our ongoing growth strategy in Leicester and it demonstrates our commitment to and investment in the city and local community. We strive to provide a workplace culture that attracts top lawyers in the region to work for us so we can deliver the best client experience.”
Our Nottingham office was refurbished at the start of 2019 and work started at our Derby premises at the beginning of this year.
The refurbished Leicester office has a suite of meeting rooms on the ground floor, along with a 40-seat seminar room. The office area on the second floor is open plan and, on the same floor, are internal meeting rooms along with a new social space where employees can work, feel inspired and have their dedication and success rewarded.
Stewart added:
“We wanted to upgrade our workplaces and create an environment where we could build teams by having our employees in the office, while also empowering them to work in the ways that suit them.
“Our social space means business – it’s a place where we’re proud to take clients and where they are met with the unexpected when they first open the door. It could be used for a networking event one evening, and then for a team celebration the following day.
“Above all, it’s a place where people want to be – where they can work in different ways, whether that’s on a sofa in a quiet area or as a group in booth seating. Our investment in Surface Pros means work can be done in a more agile way and people don’t have to just work at their desks.
“We are delighted with the finished look. The new office reflects our personality, as well as our aspirations and professionalism.”