Gateley Holdings PLC (LON:GTLY) Chief Executive Officer Michael Ward caught up with DirectorsTalk for an exclusive interview to discuss their latest results, the rationale behind the new acquisitions, IPO’s in the legal sector and their view for the rest of this year and 2019.
Q1: You’ve released your results this morning for the year 30th April 2018, congratulations on delivering another record performance. What has driven this?
A1: Well, it’s been a good year for all our teams but in particular we’ve had strong performances from Corporate M&A, Banking, Commercial Real Estate and Residential Development.
Q2: Gateley recently acquired GLC Solicitors and Kiddy & Partners, what was the rationale behind these deals?
A2: Both businesses were top performers in their individual marketplace. GLC is a firm of solicitors totally focussed on delivering legal services to housebuilding clients, so this acquisition increases our go-to-market capacity in a business sector where we already have a market-leading position. Kiddy & Partners is a business which assists clients with the development of their senior management teams, it’s got an excellent client base and we look forward to working with them going forward.
Q3: The legal sector has witnessed a recent space of IPO’s, what do you think is behind this?
A3: I think probably investors have woken up to the fact that the legal services industry is an attractive place to invest in. I think our presence on AIM over the last 3 years and our performance has obviously helped investors understand the marketplace and the provision of legal services and no doubt, there’ll be more to follow.
Q4: How is current trading for Gateley Holdings, how do you view the rest of 2018-2019 financial year?
A4: Current trading is good and throughout the remainder of the financial year, we’re looking to drive forward our business on all of our teams and obviously, we look forward to working with our newly-acquired businesses.
