The Ince Group, formerly London’s largest listed law firm and a Legal Business Top 50 firm, is to commence administration procedures due to its failure to release its financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2022.
The group, which has 11 offices across six countries, said it had been informed by a major creditor that it would no longer support the business, which recorded revenue of just over £100m in the 20/21 financial year.
The firm experienced major difficulties during the pandemic and the company’s shares have been suspended since 3 January due to repeated delays in the publication of its annual report for the financial year ending 31 March 2022.
The 150-year-old company cited cash flow pressures stemming from a prolonged audit, which resulted from unresolved accounting issues in Hong Kong flagged by BDO LLP.
Ince indicated that it held talks with HMRC and its primary lender to determine their levels of support. However, one major creditor has since withdrawn its support for the business, forcing the Ince board to make the difficult decision to put the company into administration.
The law firm, headquartered in Aldgate, previously employed more than 700 staff members and generated revenues exceeding £100m in the year to March 2021.
Ince had raised emergency funds following a severe cyber-attack in March last year, which necessitated the payment of up to £5m to recover stolen personal data.
The company ceased trading in December 2022, pending the release of its annual report, which was delayed due to historic accounting and legacy issues identified by its auditor, BDO.
Ince provided repeated assurances that its audited results would be published shortly but missed four separate deadlines it had set for the publication. The law firm had since sold several subsidiaries in an attempt to stabilize its financial position, including the sale of a Bristol-based personal injury law firm for £1.3m.
The collapse comes at a time when big law firms are facing greater competition and reduced transactions. Layoffs among some of the major US law firms have been in the news as the recession has continued to have a severe impact on some. However the major reason for UK law firm failures previously has been the soaring cost of professional indemnity insurance premiums rather than financial failure.
