DAC Beachcroft announces financial results for 2020/21, showing a seventh successive year of growth

Published 18 agosto 2021

International law firm DAC Beachcroft is pleased to announce its provisional, unaudited results for the year ended 30 April 2021, showing a seventh successive year of simultaneous revenue growth, increased profitability and improved liquidity, in the context of an unusual year impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.  

In headline terms:

• Total turnover was £275 million, an increase of £17 million (7%) on the previous year.
• Profit before tax grew to £67 million, an increase of £11 million (19%) on the firm's 2019/2020 results.
• Profit per member grew 19% to circa £700k.
• The firm again improved its net cash position, with £18 million net cash by year end (up from £8 million the previous year), having put in place a renewed and extended facility during the year.

David Pollitt, DAC Beachcroft’s Managing Partner, said, “Our results reflect our resilience and adaptability in the face of the stiff challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Under unusual circumstances, we have continued to pursue our strategy, serve our clients well, and deliver exceptional results.  Now we have a balance sheet which will support continued investment in growth and innovation during the year ahead. 

“Our success this year has been very much down to our colleagues.  We have pulled together as a firm, supported one another, and protected our business for the benefit of all.  I want to thank our colleagues for their efforts, and I am very pleased that we have been able to recognise outstanding contributions made during the year by awarding record bonuses.”

DACB has continued its growth trajectory, going from strength to strength during the 2020/21 financial year.  The firm won new clients, including easyJet, Sainsbury’s, Network Rail, and Zego, and made further investments in new talent, making seventeen lateral hires over the course of the year and recently promoting a further sixteen to partner in May 2021.  DACB also set up a new advocacy service, 8 DAC Beachcroft Buildings, which has expanded to over 20 barristers and advocates since launching in January 2021.    

The firm pushed ahead with significant investments in innovation, signing a strategic partnership with Rainbird to develop further artificial intelligence-powered tools for the benefit of its clients, rolling out a next-generation electronic working platform, automating the identification and verification part of its new client acceptance process through the use of an app, and launching a crowdsourcing platform to drive collaboration and find solutions for clients.  It also launched a new trainee development programme based on the O-Shaped Lawyer principles, which was named ‘Outstanding Training Innovation’ at the 2021 Legal Innovation Awards.    

In March 2021, DACB announced the introduction of Flex Forward, its new, innovative approach to working which gives colleagues the flexibility to balance their personal and professional commitments more easily and truly enjoy a life that works. 

The firm is well positioned to benefit from consistency of leadership in the years ahead.  Its Senior Partner, Virginia Clegg, and Managing Partner, David Pollitt, were each re-elected for second five-year terms to their respective positions during the 2020/21 financial year.  David began his second term in November 2020 and Virginia started hers in May 2021.