Shipping and insurance firm Ince & Co has launched an international consultancy firm named Ince Consultancy LLP in a bid to “grow the transactional arm” of its business, said senior partner Jan Heuvels.
The consultancy firm will advise clients in the shipping, energy, aviation, trade, and real estate industries on tax and financial matters. Although the consultancy firm is incorporated in the UK, it will be headquartered in Hamburg and will work with Ince’s existing international network.
Ince Hamburg managing partner Jan Hungar will head up Ince Consultancy. Hungar specialises in providing advice to clients in the shipping, insurance, energy and real estate sectors.
The Ince Consultancy team will also include partner and managing director Regina Langholz and partners Daniel Jones and Tim Schommer. Partners Steven Jarvis and Alan Hodgson will act as the firm’s board members.
Ince’s international senior partner Jan Heuvels will also take on a partner role at Ince Consultancy.
In a statement Heuvels said: “The launch of Ince Consultancy is very much in line with our strategy of growing the transactional arm of our business to complement our leading contentious practice. It shows that we have diversified our service lines in order to satisfy our clients’ demands and adapt to ever-changing market conditions.”
On 1 May Ince will also revamp its partner remuneration structure by moving to a managed lockstep system and introducing a new bonus pool to reward its top lawyers.
The new system will see partners be paid a base salary on a 10-step lockstep ranging from £140,000 to £240,000. The remainder of the firm’s profit will be distributed to partners based on their performance. This will be decided on an annual basis by a new remuneration committee, which will include Heuvels and non-executive director Ashley Steel.
Speaking to The Lawyer Heuvels said: “This new partnership reward system will create a basis for ongoing profitable growth by recognising partners for their contribution as well as their length of service.”
Heuvels added that the new hybrid lockstep remuneration model was “overwhelmingly approved” by the firm’s partnership and allows the firm to “attract and retain the best legal talent and maintain a ‘one firm’ culture”.
The changes have been implemented as part of plans to combat the firm’s shrinking revenue. Last year turnover fell by 8 per cent, from £86.7m to £79.4m. The results were a continuation of the firm’s falling turnover, which fell 7 per cent from £93.2m in 2012/13.
Ince is understood to be in the market to expand its business by merging with smaller boutique firms.
Last year Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) managing partner Chis Lowe said he had “sat down” with Ince after being approached for a possible merger. Heuvels has denied that the firm approached WFW to discuss a merger but admitted meeting Lowe to discuss “business issues”.