Annual Report & Accounts 2026
09
CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REVIEW
INTRODUCTION AND HIGHLIGHTS
I am delighted to report that 2026 has been another excellent year for Keystone. We have continued to drive the business forwards, building on the success and momentum of earlier years to deliver another strong set of results, both operationally and financially. We remain focused on the delivery of our high-calibre organic growth strategy, taking advantage of the significant opportunity that the UK legal mid-market represents. We have now firmly established Keystone as the premier platform law firm, with nearly 500 partner level lawyers offering our clients a range and depth of experience and knowledge which clearly distinguishes us from the competition. The calibre of our lawyers is excellent, as demonstrated by their professional backgrounds and in a great many cases their recognition in the leading legal directories. These factors, together with the extensive range of other benefits Keystone lawyers enjoy, continue to underpin the growth and success of the business.
This year, the business has benefitted from sustained, broad-based, client demand which, together with the continued growth in lawyer numbers, has driven revenue up by 17.9% to £115.2m. The revenue growth has been created predominantly by our Principals1 and their pods with gross profit growing 15.2% on a gross margin of 25.1% (2026: 26.1%) and adjusted PBIT has increased by 11.4% to £12.9m at a margin of 11.2% (2026: 11.9%). Successful renegotiation of bank interest rates and the slow pace of the reduction of Bank of England base rates has also contributed to strong adjusted PBT and PBT growth, up 20.6% and 25.6% to £15.3m and £14.7m respectively.
The strength of our proposition to lawyers and their clients underpins our strong recruitment performance and we have seen a record number of fee earners join the business, with total fee earners increasing 13.5% to 654.
RECORD NUMBER OF FEE EARNERS JOINING KEYSTONE
The recruitment market conditions have continued to be favourable for Keystone and, as the premier platform law firm, we have been well positioned to take advantage of this. Accordingly, we have recruited a record number of new fee earners, with 61 new principals (2026: 50) and 63 pod members joining this year. During the year, we received 294 qualified applicants (2026: 283), made offers to 96 candidates (2026: 95) with 68 candidates accepting offers (2026: 52). Principal numbers increased by 7.7% to 491 whilst the number of other fee earners increased by 35.8% to 163 (146 pod members and 17 central office employed lawyers). This increase in other fee earners is an extremely positive development, with 14 of the net increase (36 in total) being attributable to Principals who themselves joined in the year (the equivalent statistic for 2026 was 1 or a net increase of 5). This demonstrates the confidence that those Principals have in the sustainable size of their practices. JAMES KNIGHT
Chief Executive
STRATEGIC REPORT
CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REVIEW
INTRODUCTION AND HIGHLIGHTS
I am delighted to report that 2026 has been another excellent year for Keystone. We have continued to drive the business forwards, building on the success and momentum of earlier years to deliver another strong set of results, both operationally and financially. We remain focused on the delivery of our high-calibre organic growth strategy, taking advantage of the significant opportunity that the UK legal mid-market represents. We have now firmly established Keystone as the premier platform law firm, with nearly 500 partner level lawyers offering our clients a range and depth of experience and knowledge which clearly distinguishes us from the competition. The calibre of our lawyers is excellent, as demonstrated by their professional backgrounds and in a great many cases their recognition in the leading legal directories. These factors, together with the extensive range of other benefits Keystone lawyers enjoy, continue to underpin the growth and success of the business.
This year, the business has benefitted from sustained, broad-based, client demand which, together with the continued growth in lawyer numbers, has driven revenue up by 17.9% to £115.2m. The revenue growth has been created predominantly by our Principals1 and their pods with gross profit growing 15.2% on a gross margin of 25.1% (2026: 26.1%) and adjusted PBIT has increased by 11.4% to £12.9m at a margin of 11.2% (2026: 11.9%). Successful renegotiation of bank interest rates and the slow pace of the reduction of Bank of England base rates has also contributed to strong adjusted PBT and PBT growth, up 20.6% and 25.6% to £15.3m and £14.7m respectively.
The strength of our proposition to lawyers and their clients underpins our strong recruitment performance and we have seen a record number of fee earners join the business, with total fee earners increasing 13.5% to 654.
RECORD NUMBER OF FEE EARNERS JOINING KEYSTONE
The recruitment market conditions have continued to be favourable for Keystone and, as the premier platform law firm, we have been well positioned to take advantage of this. Accordingly, we have recruited a record number of new fee earners, with 61 new principals (2026: 50) and 63 pod members joining this year. During the year, we received 294 qualified applicants (2026: 283), made offers to 96 candidates (2026: 95) with 68 candidates accepting offers (2026: 52). Principal numbers increased by 7.7% to 491 whilst the number of other fee earners increased by 35.8% to 163 (146 pod members and 17 central office employed lawyers). This increase in other fee earners is an extremely positive development, with 14 of the net increase (36 in total) being attributable to Principals who themselves joined in the year (the equivalent statistic for 2026 was 1 or a net increase of 5). This demonstrates the confidence that those Principals have in the sustainable size of their practices. JAMES KNIGHT
Chief Executive
STRATEGIC REPORT