GLASGOW law firm Harper Macleod has continued to grow its business in the Highlands and Islands with the addition of two-partner Inverness firm Allen & Shaw.

The private client firm will come under the Harper Macleod banner as of 3 October, with its named partners David Allen and Donald Shaw becoming consultants at the firm.

Three other members of staff will also move across to Harper Macleod’s existing Inverness base, which opened in 2004 and is now home to 27 people.

The move comes a year after Harper Macleod took over Shetland-based Dowle Smith & Rutherford with a view to tapping into the oil and gas, renewable energy, aquaculture and tourism sectors in the Scottish islands.

Firm chairman Lorne Crerar said the Allen & Shaw acquisition “supports our growth ambitions for both [the Inverness] office and the wider Highlands and Islands”.

“The Highlands and Islands plays a big part in Harper Macleod's identity,” he said, adding that the Shetland launch had been “an overwhelming success”.

Private client has been a growing practice area for Harper Macleod in recent years, with the firm taking over Glasgow-based private client firm Bird Semple in late 2014.

That deal was thought to add in the region of £2m to the firm’s annual turnover figure, which grew by 18 per cent to £26m in the year to March 2016.

During the same period the amount of profit available for distribution to partners increased by 16 per cent to £9.3m.

The firm’s turnover was bolstered during the 2015/16 financial year after it took on a 10-strong team that included five partners from failed firm McClure Naismith.

Harper Macleod took three dispute resolution partners as well as one corporate and one real estate partner after McClures went into administration at the end of August last year.