Business operations staff at UK top 200 law firm IBB Law have been informed that their jobs are at risk in light of the impending acquisition by London-listed law firm Knights, with roles in IT, HR, risk and compliance and accounting said to be affected, plus secretarial and facilities roles.
On the morning of Monday 3 March, as the acquisition was announced, staff at IBB were told whether their role was at risk or not. One insider told us: “Up to 70 people across IT, risk, compliance, HR, accounts plus secretaries and people in facilities have been put on notice that Knights will be making redundancies.” IBB Law has around 260 staff, including 110 lawyers and 33 partners.
The insider further claimed: “Knights are only taking fee-earners, on the basis that their business model is to centralise support from Stoke.” We have spoken to people in IBB business operations roles who are actively looking for new opportunities.
A spokesperson for Knights declined to comment on the number of roles claimed to be at risk and denied that any decision has been made, or that employees have been told to find new jobs, commenting: “We assess all areas of a business during an acquisition and work collaboratively with their partners to identify, and ensure we retain, all roles that will complement our team. IBB is no different, and there will be people we do not retain as we already have a strong operational team. We know that is difficult for those involved, and we are talking to everyone at IBB to make sure they are informed throughout.” The future of IBB’s crime team is on the table, including consideration as to whether it ought to be sold as a standalone business.
Knights, which listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM market in 2018 and in the last financial year reported a revenue of £150m, has grown substantially through acquisition over the past decade. IBB, at a total acquisition cost of £30m, is its largest to date. The acquisition goes live on 4 April.
Knights’ underlying model partly relies on delivering savings and efficiencies through streamlining and centralising business functions. In its half year results declaration in January, the firm said: “During the first half, we continued to streamline and centralise several internal business functions, which has delivered cost savings and efficiencies, whilst delivering enhanced support and greater collaboration across the Group. As a result, at 3.7:1 (H1 FY24: 3.6:1), our fee earner to non-fee earner ratio demonstrates that we are at the leading edge of our industry in terms of operating an efficient and lean delivery platform.”