Archial is looking at renewing its acquisition of other practices this year and has confirmed it is in advanced discussions with a number of potential firms.

Chief executive Chris Littlemore said the firm - formerly SMC - is talking to a number of UK firms with offices overseas as part of a strategy to plug gaps in its business.

Archial has 16 offices in the UK from Aberdeen down to Exeter as well as five more overseas as part of its international arm.

“One needs to a have a good diversity of work from different sectors,” Littlemore added. “We have sectors where we are under-represented and by acquisitions we can bolster our area of expertise.”

Last year, Archial cut 25% of its staff to bring numbers down from just over 600 to around 475.

Its 2009 results, released yesterday, showed that exceptional items of £16.3 million, including spending £3.8 million on its redundancy programme, helped send pre-tax profits slumping from £1.5 million in 2008 to a £14.7 million loss. Turnover was down 20% to £33.9 million.

Topics