Clyde & Co's profit dipped nearly 10% in the year to 30 April 2026 against what the firm described as a 'volatile geopolitical and commercial backdrop'.
Profit dipped 9.9% from £177.5m in FY25 to £160m. Revenue inched up 2% to £857m, marking the 28th consecutive year the UK firm has increased turnover. For the second consecutive year the firm did not disclose profit per equity partner.
Clydes said its growth rate was impacted by the smaller business in APAC following the downsizing of its Australian arm in 2024 after an internal review, as well as "adverse conditions in Q4 for the Middle East business due to the regional conflict".
Its results are in line with the modest 2% revenue gain and 6% profit decline reported by Clydes' UK rival HFW, to £276m and £73m respectively, although it contrasts with the nearly 10% jump in revenue at Kennedys fuelled by strong growth in North America and APAC.
Matthew Kelsall, Clydes' chief executive, commented: “Against a volatile geopolitical and commercial backdrop, the firm delivered a resilient revenue performance and continued to make progress in the areas that matter most to our clients. Our global platform, sector focus and geographic spread remain real strengths, with North America again delivering strong growth and our client engagement strategy gaining traction across regions and practice groups."
North America remained Clydes' fastest-growing region, with revenue increasing to £237m, representing 28% of firmwide revenue – up from 25% in FY25. During FY26, the firm launched in Seattle through a merger with 32-lawyer insurance coverage and litigation firm Forsberg & Umlauf and in Northwest Indiana after hiring a two-lawyer insurance team from Lewis Brisbois, expanding its North America footprint to more than 430 lawyers across 21 offices.
Meanwhile, the UK’s share of overall revenue remained constant at 47%, as did the Middle East and Africa’s (10%). Europe, where the firm opened in the Netherlands through a merger with 17-lawyer insurance boutique SLA, contributed 7% and Latin America 2%, while APAC's share dipped slightly from 9% to 6%.
The firm added 79 partners through lateral hires and internal promotions during the year, made up of 38 lateral partner hires and 41 partner promotions across disputes, corporate and advisory, insurance, aviation, construction, energy and marine. Key hires included the arrival in April of a 10-lawyer corporate and disputes team in Bangkok from DLA Piper, led by partners Robert Tang and Samata Masagee.
Moving the other way, the firm has lost a number of partners from its international arbitration practice this year, with investment treaty law specialist Loukas Mistelis joining Steptoe and energy specialist Richard Power moving to Fieldfisher in June and a three-partner team including the firm’s former international arbitration chair, Ben Knowles, moving to Keystone Law in February.
Email your news and story ideas to: [email protected]
