Gateley CEO steps down as revenue rises and net debt jumps

Gateley’s CEO has announced his resignation as the firm reported its annual results, with revenue rising, net debt increasing and the firm confirming plans for up to 40 redundancies.

Rod Waldie, who became CEO in May 2020, will step down from his role at the listed firm from 1 August, citing “personal, health-related reasons”. Martin Pike, previously an executive at risk advisory firm Willis Towers Watson and a current non-executive director at Gately since April of last year, will serve as chief executive on an interim basis.

The firm’s chair Edward Knapp thanked Waldie for his “leadership, hard work and commitment”. He said the board is looking forward to working with Pike to “deliver margin enhancement, improved balance sheet and working capital management, profitable growth and attractive returns for our shareholders”.

The financials

Profit before tax grew by 20% to £7.7 million on revenue of £194.3 million - up 8% on last year - made up of 6.2% organic growth and boosted by the addition of specialist IP firm Groom Wilkes & Wright (GWW) in September 2025, which the firm said is “trading strongly and ahead of expectations since acquisition”.

Property was the firm's best performing sector, making up half of its total revenue. The firm called property its “most diverse and established platform”.

In terms of debt, Gateley ended the year with net debt of £25.3 million, up nearly 4x from £6.6 million in 2025, an increase the firm said was driven primarily by increased working capital levels and the initial cash payment on its acquisition of GWW.

Waldie said this year has “not been without its challenges” and added that “some Q4 deferment and increased targeted contentious workstreams in year have masked the real progress" towards margin improvement.

The background

The firm, which became the first commercial law firm to list on the London Stock Exchange in 2015, saw its shares drop by 60% in the last 12 months.

Last week, the firm confirmed it was in formal talks about consolidating its business support and secretarial teams, with some fee-earners understood to be at risk too. It has since confirmed that up to around 40 business support roles may be cut.