The changing face of Londonx
How our London office negotiated five years of unprecedented change.
The past five years have been a time of seismic change in the United Kingdom as it faced the challenges of political turmoil, Brexit and the global pandemic.
It’s a testimony to the strength of our London office and the success of our 2020 Strategy that last year saw it achieve record levels of revenue and profitability, with strong results across all measures.
Executive Committee member Oliver Brettle, who is based in London, explains: “It’s fair to say that, when we developed our 2020 Strategy to focus on growth in London, we couldn’t have foreseen three general elections in the period and that the UK would choose to leave the European Union in a referendum in 2016.
“The subsequent uncertainty around the London market prompted us to be more cautious in the years that followed, but we remained fully focused on our goal to grow profitably and strategically.”
“One of the most important things we did was to focus on the right clients and matters in line with our global strategy.”
One of our targets set in 2015 was to grow our partnership substantially in London, and the Firm succeeded in doing so, with 89 new partners added, including 52 internal promotions and 37 strategic lateral hires.
Recruitment was particularly focused on strengthening the office in areas such as leveraged finance, M&A, private equity, project finance, disputes (both litigation and arbitration), FRI, and capital markets.
Oliver says: “Strengthening our partnership was important because our clients are increasingly demanding and expecting their matters to be led by senior lawyers with the support of a strong associate team.
“The original target of growing the office to 500 lawyers was always one which would be the result of taking the correct strategic decisions and not an end in itself. The approach we took [on hiring] was prudent given the market uncertainty linked to Brexit.”
The success of the London office in hitting its other 2020 targets is reflected in its latest results and in its market profile.
Highlights have included an increase in Band 1 rankings from seven in 2015 to ten in 2020 and performing better relative to our closest competitors on this measure (including the Magic Circle, Latham and Kirkland).
“One of the most important things we did was to focus on the right clients and matters in line with our global strategy,” says Oliver.
“This focus on profitable growth saw us achieve an increase in US$5 million+ clients from 43 percent to 47 percent of our office revenue and an increase in US$1 million+ matters from 44 to 48 percent.
“The past five years have also seen the London office move from being a net importer of work from other parts of the Firm to a net exporter, which reflects the part London should play in the global network.
“Over that time, the volume of work exported has increased from 39 percent to 53 percent, so a significant increase.
“In recent years, we’ve continued to work with offices around the world on high-profile matters, including the Avast and Play IPOs, which were built on client relationships in Prague and Warsaw, but required significant involvement from the London team, particularly as Avast was listed on the London Stock Exchange.
“Looking forward, I’m excited to see what we can achieve in an ever-changing and highly competitive market.”
“As a global hub, London has also been important in the growth of our relationship with several major clients based in the Middle East. Despite Brexit, I can only see this global reach continuing, especially given the continued importance of English law with London being, obviously, the center of this.”
Another highlight of the past five years has been the way the office has embraced and brought the Firm’s Employee Value Proposition (EVP) to life.
“We’ve worked really hard on the EVP,” says Oliver, “something that has continued under Office Executive Partner Melissa Butler’s leadership, as we’ve made great strides forward on engagement, wellbeing, diversity and inclusion.
“The introduction of our EVP in 2017 has also played a major part in helping us recruit, retain and develop our talent. We continue to see the benefits of this investment in our people, not least during the current pandemic, where we feel we’ve done everything we can to help people manage through and stay connected.”
Oliver adds: “Over the past five years, it’s the fact that we’ve amplified our position as an integral part of the global Firm that’s pleased me most.
“Success in London is one thing, but what makes us unique is being part of a global firm, something that was evident when we hosted the 2020 Global Partner Meeting in London when it was so inspiring to see everyone come together.
“Looking forward, I’m excited to see what we can achieve in an ever-changing and highly competitive market.
“One thing you can be sure of is that we’ll keep moving forward, delivering an exceptional client experience and giving clients and our talent a compelling reason to choose us and stay with us, because it’s our people and our global network that will continue to set us apart.”
