Hill Dickinson has placed 39 lawyers and non-fee-earning staff into a redundancy consultation.
The jobs are being lost from HD's counter fraud division, which investigates suspicious insurance claims. The firm told RollOnFriday the cuts, to teams in Manchester, Liverpool and London who dig into dodgy supermarket slips and rear-endings, were being made "following a 15% increase" in counter fraud instructions over the last year. A reduction in jobs seems like a bizarro response to more work, but according to the firm it makes perfect sense and is all to do with "restructuring and streamlining processes aligned to insurers’ ongoing counter fraud requirements".
It is Hill Dickinson's second restructuring in as many years. In 2013 the firm made a £2.8 million cash call on partners, cut 14 of them and axed 69 other staff. At the time managing partner Peter Jackson prophesied that 2014 would be a "solid year". And it has been, for some. But while PEP and profit both rose a smidgen in 2013/14 (even though revenue was flat - the wonders of a reduced wage bill), the rank and file are facing another dose of pain.
The firm said it expected a significant proportion of the redundancies to be voluntary. Managing Partner Peter Jackson said, “We are always saddened to see colleagues depart, but the counter fraud market is changing rapidly. Generating efficiencies where possible enables us to invest throughout our business”.
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The jobs are being lost from HD's counter fraud division, which investigates suspicious insurance claims. The firm told RollOnFriday the cuts, to teams in Manchester, Liverpool and London who dig into dodgy supermarket slips and rear-endings, were being made "following a 15% increase" in counter fraud instructions over the last year. A reduction in jobs seems like a bizarro response to more work, but according to the firm it makes perfect sense and is all to do with "restructuring and streamlining processes aligned to insurers’ ongoing counter fraud requirements".
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The price of success, coming soon in HD |
It is Hill Dickinson's second restructuring in as many years. In 2013 the firm made a £2.8 million cash call on partners, cut 14 of them and axed 69 other staff. At the time managing partner Peter Jackson prophesied that 2014 would be a "solid year". And it has been, for some. But while PEP and profit both rose a smidgen in 2013/14 (even though revenue was flat - the wonders of a reduced wage bill), the rank and file are facing another dose of pain.
The firm said it expected a significant proportion of the redundancies to be voluntary. Managing Partner Peter Jackson said, “We are always saddened to see colleagues depart, but the counter fraud market is changing rapidly. Generating efficiencies where possible enables us to invest throughout our business”.
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