Osborne Clarke financial results 2020 - 5 per cent revenue increase
International legal practice Osborne Clarke, which employs around 600 people in its Bristol Temple Quay office, recorded revenue of €318 million (£288 million) for 2019/20. This is an increase of 5 per cent on 2018/19 and an increase of 63 per cent over five years.
Peter Clough, head of Osborne Clarke’s Bristol office, said: “It’s been a challenging year but thanks to the work of our brilliant people we’ve remained resilient.
“Our teams have pulled together to keep the firm running smoothly and to find new ways to support our clients. Announcing our move to Halo in 2022 was a highlight and we are looking forward to creating what will be one of the region’s most high tech and environmentally friendly offices."
Ray Berg, managing partner, Osborne Clarke, added: “Covid-19 has taken some of the shine off our results but, like any crisis, it’s how you manage it that can define you. I was incredibly proud at how agile we proved to be, with special mention to our IT and other support teams for their dedication and innovation.
“Our focus since then has been to protect our people and our business by staying as close as we can to our clients to help them navigate this difficult period. Our established expertise in digital transformation has been a great example of a value-added service.
“Q1 in the UK this financial year was not as bad as we had feared but nor as good as we had hoped. But we are optimistic. As we emerge from the pandemic, stronger and more innovative, we will be taking the lead on issues such as decarbonisation and urban dynamics, and helping our clients drive value and opportunity from these global issues.”
In the UK, Osborne Clarke’s revenue increased by 3 per cent to £155 million, up from £150 million in 2018/19.
Offices
Client demand for Osborne Clarke's services was generally strong across most offices until lockdown. Since then client demand has varied from region to region, with our Asian offices most impacted and continental European offices least impacted. As a result, a number of its continental European offices have enjoyed strong double-digit growth. Earlier in 2019, Osborne Clarke invested in state-of-the art connected technologies in its London and Reading offices to enable agile working for employees and clients. This will be further enhanced when it moves its Bristol office to Halo in 2022. This will be a landmark new office building and one of the UK’s greenest and most innovative workplaces.
Sectors and services
Osborne Clarke has maintained a healthy balance of revenue across its four UK service lines. Disputes and risk saw 15 per cent growth and projects, real estate and finance grew 2 per cent. Advisory and business transactions were both broadly static.
Stand-out UK sectors included financial services which grew 10 per cent and the largest sector, tech, media and comms, growing 6 per cent. Others were broadly flat but against strong performances in 2018/19.
People
Osborne Clarke has maintained its investment in people with 11 senior promotions in Germany, Italy and the UK. Singapore has also expanded recently with two new counsels – litigator Yvette Anthony and corporate specialist Simon Huang.
Osborne Clarke has not reduced the number of UK trainees it will take on in September although much of the induction will take place online before a gradual return to office working. It has also retained its summer vacation scheme so that students will still enjoy a personalised course with high levels of lawyer mentoring online.
Diversity remains an essential strand of its business strategy. The UK has welcomed Bola Gibson, its new head of inclusion and corporate responsibility. It also became a sponsor of the European Network for Women in Leadership with 20 female partners from across its UK and EU offices participating in the programme.
