Law firms – don’t let rising wage bills put your firm under pressure!

The UK economy is constantly under the spotlight: measured, analysed and reported upon.  Businesses continue to grapple with significant financial pressures and seek new ways to adapt and grow in an increasingly competitive market.

The service sector is losing the war on wages

Whilst June’s inflation figures showed that the consumer prices index in the UK (CPI) hit the Bank of England’s 2% target, the picture is less rosy when it comes to the services sector. Here, prices are still rising significantly. This is attributed largely to ongoing wage increases; employers are struggling with labour shortages making it more expensive to attract and retain staff.

Law firms are in the eye of the storm

In the legal sector, rising inflation was illustrated by the recent news that two City firms, Reed Smith and Ashurst will be increasing starting salaries for their lawyers to £125,000 from this September.

The reason for the recent rise of NQ starting-salaries has been partly explained as a response to competition from high-paying US firms looking to attract the best talent. Although this affects a particular segment of the legal market directly, it has a trickle-down impact on recruitment at smaller and regional firms as well.

Even without the intervention of US firms, UK law firms have seen a significant rise in costs across the board. Not only is there a real skills shortage in certain areas, frustrating those who want to expand their practices but ancillary costs, such as utilities, continue to rise, eating into profits.

How can you keep a lid on a rising wage bill?  

At Global BPO we provide specialist resources at highly competitive rates to support all your legal and business process needs.  Our wide-ranging services are quality-assured and we take care of every aspect of people management including recruitment, onboarding and day-to-day HR matters.

From document production, bundle preparation and PA/secretarial services to document review (eDiscovery, due diligence and DSARs) and regulatory/compliance support, our teams will help you keep your business functions running smoothly.

 Talk to us

So, if you are looking to grow profits in these challenging times, get in touch today and contact our Client Manager, Suzie Young at: suzie@globalbpo.co.uk