David Jackson

Underlying turnover is up  five per cent and underlying profit up 11 per cent, excluding the divested serious injury business. Turnover is up two per cent, to £221.4m and profit climbed to £80.0m, up four per cent. Profit per equity partner rose three per cent to £1.04m.

The results reflect the firm’s disciplined focus on where it competes, the work it pursues and the strategic capabilities it’s developing.

Investment in innovative technologies continued with a multi-million-pound programme that included Project Apollo – a proprietary Generative AI-powered contract review platform built with Microsoft.

David Jackson, CEO of Shoosmiths, said: “The business remains highly focused and disciplined, with profit growth again outpacing revenue growth. That matters because it gives us the capacity to keep investing in our people and technology, so we can deliver even better outcomes for our clients.

“It also sends a clear signal to the market about the firm we are building: one increasingly focused on complex, higher-value work where clients need judgement, pace and confidence from their advisers with matters spanning complex cross-border private equity and major real estate deals to heavyweight litigation and restructuring mandates.

“Shoosmiths is combining outstanding legal judgement with the confidence to invest in technology, data and client delivery doing that from a position of real financial strength.”

The year ended 31 March 2026 saw Shoosmiths act on more complex and higher-value mandates across its three key pillars:

In corporate, the firm advised Five Arrows Principal Investments on the merger of Totalmobile and Solvares Group, creating a larger international software group with a combined presence across Northern Europe. The transaction involved Deutsche Beteiligungs AG and required co-counsel support across Germany and France.

Additionally, the firm are also at the forefront of professional services sector transactions, advising on complex PE‑backed investments, consolidations and growth strategies, including acting for Apax‑backed S&W Group on its acquisitions of ClearViewIP and Peppercorn Tax as part of a wider buy‑and‑build consolidation strategy, alongside mandates for Northridge (Cordillera PE investment), Azets (multiple acquisitions), Kreston Reeves (£200m advisory group formation), Parabellum Investments (sale of Parseq), and Cow Corner (refinancing of One Point Advisory Services).

The corporate team’s market position was recognised externally when it was named London’s most prolific UK-based M&A adviser by deal number, after the firm acted on more City M&A matters than any other firm in 2025 - the fourth consecutive year of top ranking.

In litigation, Shoosmiths is acting for the joint liquidators of the former Somerfield Supermarkets business who have brought claims exceeding £450m against various entities of the Co-operative Group. The claims include what is reputed to be one of the largest transactions at an undervalue claims ever brought in the UK courts and relate to the Co-operative Group’s acquisition of circa 500 stores from the old Somerfield business shortly before it went fell into administration in 2017.

During the previous financial year, the firm launched its £1m for 1 million prompts campaign to “build confidence in the everyday use of AI”. It has since committed a further £1m investment in its people to support more purposeful use cases focused on client service, productivity and lawyer development.

Kirsten Hewson, chairperson of Shoosmiths, said: “This has been a year of real progress for Shoosmiths. Clients are dealing with more complexity, more pressure and more change. They want advisers who bring sound judgement, commerciality and pace, alongside the confidence to use technology where it genuinely improves outcomes.

“That’s where our firm is focused. We are investing in the future while staying close to what has always set us apart: strong relationships, excellent people and a practical understanding of what clients actually need.”