Legal and professional services group Ampa, which is best known for its full-service law firm Shakespeare Martineau, has experienced 30% revenue growth in FY 22/23 – reporting £104.8m turnover in this year’s survey.
The group’s distributable profit was also up at £25.4m, compared to £22.2m in the previous financial year.
Ampa’s largest legal brand Shakespeare Martineau grew by 16% - of which 11% was organic growth. The additional 5% was a result of its merger with Bristol-based GL Law.
Mayo Wynne Baxter, which became part of the Ampa group in May 2022, has also reported double-digit growth. Since joining the group, the South East law firm has increased revenue by 12% - six times the growth it had experienced in the four years previous.
Planned strategic investments, market inflationary pressures as well as higher than planned salary increases across the group means profit has not grown as quickly as revenue, but it still sits at a competitive 14.4% (£3.2m) increase on FY 21/22.
Sarah Walker-Smith, CEO of Ampa, explained: “We had a number of planned investments, but also had to remain alive to the unplanned and unexpected changes in the market.
“We are on track with the strategy we set out two years ago, which was to build a sustainable, profitable and resilient group of businesses. One that is agile, relevant and human. We are pleased with our progress so far and remain on track - our organic growth and overall revenue increase shows the continued growth potential of our group. We will continue our planned investments and expect profits to increase as a result of our strategy.”
This is the first year Ampa has submitted financial information to the survey as a group, having previously reported under Shakespeare Martineau. Ampa is not a trading brand, it is neither client-facing nor fee-earning. Instead, it provides the infrastructure and professional service teams needed to support its growing House of BrandsTM - such as IT, risk, finance, marketing, and HR. Ampa’s equity members also invest at group-wide level.
This year, Ampa has welcomed eight lateral hires, promoted seven people into the equity membership and welcomed 24 members through mergers, while also welcoming three team hires across our brands. Ampa also promoted more than 60 people across its legal and support teams, created 217 new jobs, and achieved B-Corporation status.
Ampa continues to be open to conversations with ambitious, like-minded legal brands and lateral hires to join the growing group.