Margaret Taylor
DRUMMOND Miller made a dividend of almost £7,500 in the 2015/16 year after setting up a joint venture to advise clinical negligence clients on how to invest their compensation.
The firm, which specialises in clinical and medical negligence as well as immigration work, joined forces with Edinburgh-based Wealthflow to create DMW Asset Management in 2015, a move that chairman Andrew Purdie said the firm had “been long considering”.
“With medical negligence you can be dealing with awards for clients of tens of thousands of pounds,” he said.
“Families can come into a lot of money and there are sharks out there that can take them to the cleaners - DMW advises them on how to manage that money.”
The dividend formed a small part of Drummond Miller’s income for the 2015/16 year, which remained flat at just over £5 million, according to accounts filed at Companies House this week.
The amount of profit available for distribution among partners rose by 13 per cent to £1.2m, with Mr Purdie saying that increasing reliance on technology had helped bolster the bottom line.
“We’ve invested heavily in technology over the years and [that has meant that] when partners have left their work can be done more efficiently by people lower down - that’s why we’re more profitable,” he said.
The average profit share payable to partners for the year was up from £79,986 in 2014/15 to £98,259, with the highest-earning partner receiving £135,087.
The accounts also revealed that the firm took steps towards clearing its debt position during the year, reducing its borrowings from £1.2m to £756,000.
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