AN expanding credit hire and legal services firm is on course to more than double its presence in Bolton over the next 12 months.

Bond Turner, part of the Anexo Group, took a floor at The Parklands, in Middlebrook, last autumn.

And by the end of June the firm, which specialises in acting for the ‘no fault’ motorists in driving cases, had a 63-strong workforce, including 29 experienced litigators.

Alan Sellers, group chairman, said: “We have another 10 people due to start with us shortly.

“We have also signed a lease for another floor at Bolton which takes up to 20,000 square feet there.

“We have been really excited by our progress there - the office broke even within four months and is way ahead of where we expected it to be.”

He confirmed that the roster at Middlebrook could total between 130 and 140, with Bolton described in their half-yearly report as a ‘blueprint’ for future success.

Bond Turner had invested £2.3million, in one-off start-up costs, though this soon paid dividends as the number of settled cases rose by 19 per cent. from 1.730 to 2,066.

Cash collections also saw a spike, with the 2018 figure of £28.2million improving to £36.6million, on the back of the average settlement increasing from £5,695 to £6,230.

This and other factors has seen half-yearly revenues for the group, which has larger offices in city centre Liverpool, rise by more than 55 per cent to £36.7million.

Profits before tax rose from £6.8m in the first six months of 2018 to £11m, for the same period this year.

The number of vehicles on the road for the half-year is now 1,496, compared to 912, with record cash collection figures recorded for July.

Mark Bringloe, group finance director, added: “We are hoping, in the early part of 2020, to open an office in another geographic centre, probably Leeds, to expand still further.”

Management expects that when their senior litigators eventually ‘bed in’, over the next nine to 12 months, it should see Bond Turner’s revenues rise again, for the second half of 2019-20.