Ince & Co is launching a sacking restructuring programme that is anticipated to lead to between 32 and 36 redundancies.

Fee earners and business services staff will lose their jobs, although the firm was tight-lipped as to the exact split of lawyers vs other staff to be affected, or which offices would be hit. Ince & Co's accounts for the last financial year 2016/17 stated that there were 253 staff at the firm, consisting of 120 fee earners and 133 business staff, so cutting over 30 people would represent a fairly significant headcount reduction.

The latest team-building exercise included walking the plank.
One trainee excelled at this earlier in the year 
 

An Ince & Co spokesman told RollOnFriday that the firm was performing strongly but, like all businesses, the firm needed to undertake the review to ensure that it had the right people in the right locations. Ince's most recent accounts seem to demonstrate that the firm is in good shape as turnover leapt from £47.1 million in 2015/2016 to £51.7 million in 2016/2017, while operating profits soared from around 7.2 million to 11.2 million. 

Redundancies are clearly never welcome, but the shipping firm has at least fessed up rather than trying to silently manage people out on the sly. Andrew Jameson, Head of Ince & Co’s London office and Global HR Director, told RollOnFriday that while the proposed changes are for the good of our business "we recognise that this will be unsettling for our people, who we will be fully supporting during this difficult period.”

Inces is not the only City firm to be planning a cull. Ashurst recently announced that 80% of its secretaries were at risk of redundancy. It will be interesting to see whether other firms follow suit.
 
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Comments

Anonymous 08 June 18 23:59

To think that 30 years ago they were on a par with firms like Clyde & Co. It's surprising that they have not merged with another firm to ensure their survival.

Anonymous 13 June 18 17:18

Given the number of attempted mergers, I’m not sure any firms in their sectors want to merge with them. More likely to see partners or small teams in the more profitable areas (not shipping) jumping ship.