Financial results
Trading overview
The Group has made progress towards achieving our vision of becoming the leading global provider of integrated legal and business services. Revenue has increased by 8% on the same period last year, as our integrated legal management approach continues to drive stronger client relationships.
Performance was strong despite the macroeconomic conditions that reflected some challenging developments, such as the UK General Election and the US Presidential Election.
Financing
The Group, post take-private, has a funding structure in place on both structural and working capital lines through to 2030. The Group therefore remains confident in its ability to fund strategy and, where appropriate, opportunistic growth opportunities.
Strategic developments
Copilot rollout
In May 2024, DWF announced that it would be making Copilot available to every colleague globally. Copilot helps users improve their productivity by performing a variety of everyday tasks across the Microsoft 365 suite. DWF is one of the first UK-headquartered legal services businesses to deploy Copilot. Our investment in Copilot aims to modernise our service delivery and improve our colleague and client experience. It is giving us the ability to focus on where we can best deliver value for clients.
Acquisition of Proclaim
In June 2024, DWF announced that it had agreed to acquire Proclaim, a leading Australian claims management business. The transaction, which completed in September, has expanded our Claims Management and Adjusting (CMA) and wider insurance capabilities in Australia, which is the fourth largest Lloyd's market globally. This transaction adds to our global CMA presence, with our team now comprising 320 colleagues across nine jurisdictions.
Appointment of Independent Non-Executive Chair
In July 2024, Steve Varley was appointed as Independent Non-Executive Chair of DWF. Steve brings over 30 years of experience in the professional services industry, including 14 years at Accenture and 18 years at EY. Steve was elected as UK & Ireland Chair and Managing Partner of EY in 2011, and during his tenure the firm saw annual revenue increase from £1.35bn to £2.6bn.
At DWF, Steve chairs the firm's Group Board, providing non-executive oversight of the group strategy. His extensive experience in building and growing global professional services businesses will be invaluable as we continue to pursue our growth agenda.
Responsible business recognition
In October 2024, DWF was named by industry think tank, Lamp House Strategy, as the leading law firm for Responsible Business. The second annual global review from Lamp House ranked DWF as the leading firm for both Governance and People, and as one of the top five firms for Planet.
Strengthening our global capabilities
Through November and December 2024, DWF has made a series of announcements regarding team hires, which have strengthened the firm's capabilities in strategically important locations. These announcements included:
- The arrival of nine partners from the London market team of the Australian law firm, Hall & Wilcox. This will significantly strengthen our insurance litigation practice in Australia.
- Joining forces with the insurance and civil litigation team of the Canadian law firm, Bélanger Sauvé. This move results in 28 people, including nine partners, joining DWF, and establishes Montreal as a fourth location in Canada, in addition to Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary.
- The addition of 12 people, including three partners to our Commercial Services division in Warsaw, with Beata Balas-Noszczyk, Tomasz Grygorczuk and Bartosz Romanowski, along with their team, joining
