At the confluence of Glasgow’s George Square and the city’s retail hub and business districts, the landscape has been changing. And for the better: a new £70 million building at 110 Queen Street, a striking structure of undulating curves of glossy black glass has replaced the brutalist concrete premises that had rather underwhelmed the site since 1964.

The building is a statement of optimism in a city that, despite the economic vicissitudes of the past decade, has a highly skilled workforce in 17,000 companies, and a diverse economy fuelled by growth sectors that have attracted numerous global corporations.

Top ranking legal firm Brodies wasn’t slow to surf the wave of optimism. Establishing itself in Glasgow in 2006, when it absorbed the business of full-service firm Bishops, it signed up in 2013 as the first tenant at the new development, where it has been joined by firms such as Deloitte and Grant Thornton.

Optimistic yes, complacent, no. Throughout recent years, which have, post-recession, seen a radical shakeup in the legal profession and the disappearance of some of its most venerable names such as McGrigors and Dundas & Wilson in mergers and consolidations, Brodies has enjoyed reassuring growth in both business and staff.

Last year the firm showed a rise in turnover of 11.2 per cent to £57.9m and operating profits before partner distributions up 14.2 per cent to £27.1m.

This has been the successful outcome of a three-year strategic plan overseen by Bill Drummond, now in his sixth consecutive term as managing partner of Brodies, and has felicitously coincided with an upturn in transaction activity over the past two years.

Recent conditions, Drummond points out, were no excuse for panic: “You can’t be in thrall to economists’ predictions,” he explains. “Look at interest rates – we’ve been told every year for six years that they were bound to go up and here we still are … meanwhile we have remained resolutely focused on the reality, anticipating a return to higher levels of economic activity.

“Admittedly, high-end transactions, including in real estate were pretty scarce for a while, but we’re very glad that we kept up our resource on the property side and continued to invest there.”
Born in Irvine, growing up in Nairn, Orkney, North Berwick and graduating from Aberdeen University has helped Drummond foster a broad outlook. The trick – or rather strategy – he says has been to “listen to clients, learn something from history and look forward to the areas where growth will emerge”.

And Glasgow is very much part of the plan. Brodies, with its foundations in the 18th century had long been one of Edinburgh’s most redoubtable and eminent law firms. It now also has an office in Aberdeen and is the only independent Scottish legal firm to have premises in Brussels.

Unlike some competitors, Drummond has never been fixated with a London presence, preferring to work with City practices to help clients with their Scottish business, with the imperative to be seen as “highly capable in our own jurisdiction and economy while also being open to doing business with law firms in other places, whether it be London or New York”.

He’s clearly enthused by Brodies’ move into 110 Queen Street. “The office in Blythswood Square has served us extremely well and in some ways we were sorry to leave but the new one is terrific, a vastly more efficient space and far more suitable to more modern ways of working.”

These include flexible arrangements that allow for more home-working. “Technology and our investments in that area have enabled our people to be very mobile. As lawyers, we recognise that our clients are global.

“They can be based in Japan or the west coast of America, in different time zones, and we have to be available and adaptable to work in that way so we have invested a lot to help that happen.

“There’s nothing like a great office environment, one that lets you look forward to going into work. We waited for the right location and the right specification here and we were delighted to be the first tenants to sign up in Queen Street.”

Preparing for the move has been, he says, an intensive period of hard work but well worth it.

“Johane Murray, a partner in real estate in Glasgow, has been an absolute trouper in leading the project and recently reminded me that my first email to her on the subject was four years ago.

“That seems to have gone in a flash but we have tried to make it a very personalised office that suits our business and creates a welcoming environment for our clients because we will do a lot of work with them here.”

The firm’s free seminar programme is, Drummond believes, an important way to share Brodies’ know-how, insight and views with clients and contacts, led by the firm’s lawyers who are commercially focused in areas that range from energy and technology to charity. The new office space, which is over two floors, has two boardroom-sized rooms that can open up to accommodate 120 people.

It is part of Drummond’s style that he sees himself as more than just a lawyer. Ten years on the board and five as deputy chair then chair of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) have given him a unique insight into the wider economy and he is aware that as his clients have stake holdings in that arena it’s necessary for their lawyers to understand the broader business factors that affect them.

“We will absolutely continue to engage in what’s going on in the business community and in civic Scotland – and as such will be hosts for events that are relevant to our clients and the workings of the economy.”

Glasgow, Drummond says, has an encouraging history of being receptive to major employers, whether in the financial services or public sectors and has been fertile ground for Brodies’ development, with the firm’s corporate team in the city having expanded by 30 per cent over the past three years. “We try to tie up what we are good at with what Glasgow itself is aiming to do,” says Drummond.

“This is a big city with all sorts of entrepreneurial as well institutional activity and we think that what we have on offer is a skill set that successfully brings together business law and individuals.”
Despite Brodies’ striking record in growth, profitability and its ability to maintain its independence, Drummond emphasises that none of this can be taken for granted. “In a changing landscape we have remained an investment-led firm. We like running our own business and making our own business choices.

“Of course, no one knows what lies down the line and having seen the events of the past few years we can’t be complacent but we are still making these choices and we have worked hard for a long time thinking about what we should be doing, always referring that back to what our clients are doing and to what is going on in the real world. And you don’t do that by reading headlines; you do it by understanding where the client is going and where the opportunities lie.”

And in a world of global business the opportunities – and the challenges – are broadly the same. “I was at the International Bar Association conference in Vienna earlier in October and there were 6000 lawyers from around the world, all with similar concerns and agendas, whether they are from Austria or Australia. And it’s important that my partners and I keep an open-eyed view about what’s happening in the world and keep learning from it.”

In terms of ambitions for the firm in Glasgow and beyond, Drummond’s buoyancy is similarly tempered with realism. “We don’t try to get too far ahead of ourselves. I get great pleasure from seeing the people we’ve recruited delivering a positive contribution back to the firm then progressing in it, being promoted and becoming partners – that’s the sign of a healthy law firm.”
And, as a new chapter for Brodies begins in Glasgow, Drummond says the firm intends to continue to deliver “great value to the business community here and to be seen to be actively engaged in that community.

“Being a law firm isn’t just a monoculture: we must always be open to new ideas, always be receptive, always optimistic.”

 

VARIED CV THAT HAS INFORMED THE BROADER VIEW

Bill Drummond has been with Brodies for 35 years and took the helm of the firm in 1998, making him one of the UK’s longest-serving managing partners.

Born in Irvine to Glaswegian parents, Bill was schooled in Nairn, Kirkwall and North Berwick, before studying law at Aberdeen University. His first paying job was as a self-employed whelk-collector in Orkney, and to raise money for his first mortgage down-payment he had spells in Shetland, where he drove taxis, and in the central belt, where he worked on farms and building sites. Bill entered the legal profession in 1980 as an apprentice lawyer at Brodies. He was assumed as a partner in 1986, and elected Managing Partner 12 years later, aged 39.

Bill assumed the role with the objective of modernising the business while maintaining and building Brodies’ strong reputation for quality in both legal advice and service delivery. Under his leadership, Brodies has grown to become Scotland’s largest law firm, with a turnover in the year to 30 April 2015 of £57.9 million.

Bill was a Board member of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) for 10 years, then Deputy Chair and Chair, steering SCDI’s contribution to the Scottish independence referendum debate before standing down in February 2015, when he was awarded a Fellowship Medal for his services to the organisation.

Bill was named UK Management Partner of the Year at the 2013 Legal Business Awards, Managing Partner of the Year at the 2014 Scottish Legal Awards, and a winner of the 2014 EY Scotland Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.

When not on Brodies’ business, Bill and his wife Caroline enjoy holidays, walking, skiing, golfing, fishing and watching their children play team sport, two of whom have represented Scotland at international level.

 

A FIRM WITH OUTSTANDING ASPECTS

Brodies established itself in Glasgow in 2006 when it absorbed the business and most of the partners and staff of the full-service law firm Bishops.


At the time Brodies only had an Edinburgh office, but the partnership had strategic expansion in its sights and recognised the importance of having a presence in Scotland’s largest city to support its institutions and thriving business community, both domestically and internationally,  and access a wider pool of legal talent.


Initially based at Blythswood Square, the firm’s 77-strong team has grown steadily through the recession and recovery and Brodies now has 234 lawyers and support staff based in Glasgow.

To accommodate the growing team and provide more modern facilities for clients, Brodies has invested almost £3 million in its new office at 110 Queen Street, opposite the Gallery of Modern Art.
Brodies has occupied the entire sixth floor and half of the seventh floor (over 25,000 sq ft in total) of the nine-storey office development, which has been built to the highest environmental standards – achieving a BREEAM ‘excellent’ rating. Brodies’ office features a 120-seater board-room/seminar space and a hi-tech ‘agile working system’ to give lawyers and staff greater flexibility to choose when, where and how they work.