Professional services firm Leonard Curtis celebrates 25 years

UK professional services firm Leonard Curtis is celebrating its 25th anniversary since the launch of its business. The firm is fast branching out from its traditional bread-and-butter of insolvency work, something which has seen it hit the £30 million turnover mark for the first time in its history.

Leonard Curtis Business Solutions Group is a professional services provider best known for its work as an insolvency specialist. The firm began life in Bury as the insolvency division of a regional  accountancy practice, but has since gone on to employ over 240 people across 19 regional offices – including London and Guernsey – as an independent firm.

Headquartered in Manchester, at the Riverside House in the city centre, Leonard Curtis focuses on corporate restructuring and insolvency services, including personal debt advice, equity and debt finance raising for SMEs, cash-flow optimisation, property solutions and legal services.  It was notably one of the first professional services firms to add legal support into its portfolio and now offers a full multi-disciplinary approach for clients.

Recent years have seen the business boom, as demand for restructuring has spiked amid the UK’s ailing economy. Notable cases Leonard Curtis has worked on in the last 24 months include supporting the attempted sale of historic football club Notts County, and the administration of Leven Car Company.

The glut in work has enabled Leonard Curtis to continue promoting staff in a way other firms have had to cut down on amid the coronavirus crisis. In July this saw Hilary Pascoe join as Director in its Manchester Practice, bringing over 20 years of experience to Riverside House, while in August it promoted 15 people to new roles from within the company, as it continued to reward talent and strengthen its operations. At the same time, Leonard Curtis relocated its offices Birmingham to the heart of the Colmore Business District, committing to a 10-year lease at Cavendish House.

All this means that Leonard Curtis sees in its 25th anniversary in rude health, with its milestone also coinciding with the firm reaching the £30 million turnover mark for the first time in its history. This sees it hit the number two spot in the UK insolvency practice ‘charts,’ as well as making excellent progress in its legal and finance brokerage divisions.

Commenting on the milestone, Director Dan Booth said, “It’s been an amazing period of growth and we are grateful to everyone who has made it possible. From our network of professional and financial advisers who recommend us, to colleagues around the UK who work tirelessly to problem solve every day and to clients who take advice, and, we hope, come through business challenges stronger… The company has always been founded on practical, straight-talking advice, whether that be around insolvency or a funding solution, legal advice or property guidance. We don’t judge in a crisis we just get on with sorting it all out.”

The firm is branching out too. Last year, Reach Commercial Finance, the 11-strong team headed up by Director Gary Cain, helped 250 SMEs, introducing over £60 million of funding lines across a wide range of products and referring over 1,000 enquiries to more than 60 funders. Other growth opportunities have also come via the company’s specialist Lifecycle service for accountants. Lifecycle now has nearly 3,000 members from across the UK who get access to Leonard Curtis’s full range of expertise. Looking ahead then, the fastest growing part of the Leonard Curtis business is actually its non-insolvency solutions.

Booth added, “Restructuring is our heartland service area - what we are probably most renowned for - and we want that top spot in the UK provider league table - but we want to maximise opportunities to fund and advise at all stages of a business lifecycle.”