Gateley Holdings Plc (LON:GTLY) Chief Executive Officer Michael Ward caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss their results for the six months ended 31st October 2017
Q1: First off, congratulations on delivering a good increase in revenue for the six-month period. Can you tell us what’s driven this?
A1: Well, it’s been a good performance by the entire firm with particularly strong performances from banking, corporate & property groups.
Q2: You’ve continued to attract new talent to Gateley, how have you targeted your recruits?
A2: Really, the recruits have targeted us through agencies which is how the markets operate so if people are looking to move firms they generally sign up with employment agents. As a result of the IPO, I think we’ve become more visible to those agents & people are introduced to us, certainly the number of people introduced to us has increased since IPO. We’ve taken opportunities where we feel it’s right to do so.
Q3: Could you explain a bit more about the complementary business service line, Global Mobility, that you’ve launched?
A3: Yes, this is a new unit that we’ve set up, we recruited Steve Asher from Mazars to head this Global Mobility team. It’s involved in assisting organisations move talent i.e. their employees across international borders, & whilst it deals with the tax compliance & immigration issues, it also deals with the strategy & ensures the decision making around the move.
Q4: Gateley was the first law firm to float, how do you view the recent arrival of 2 more legal firms to AIM?
A4: Well, both new entrants are very different to Gateley, but they do offer investors a choice within the legal services space. It will also enable analysts to benchmark relative performance, I think it’s on the whole a good thing.
Q5: How do you see the second half of the financial year for Gateley Holdings Plc?
A5: It’s business as usual & we expect to deliver in line with market expectations.
