HARPER Macleod has revealed plans to extend its geographical footprint in Scotland after the law firm boosted profits by 7.5 per cent to nearly £8 million in its latest financial year.
Chief executive Martin Darroch said the Glasgow-based firm is mulling moves to open offices in locations around Scotland where it currently serves clients but has no physical presence. It is hoped that openings could happen in the current financial year.
Mr Darroch unveiled the plans as the firm posted record fee income of £22 million in the year ended March 31 - up five per cent on last year.
The accounts cover a period during which Harper Macleod acquired private client firm Bird Semple in August, boosting its headcount to 313 by year end.
It doubled its office space in Inverness, and refurbished and extended the lease on its headquarters at The Ca'd'oro building in Glasgow's Gordon Street over the period.
And it promoted seven partners and 16 associates as it elevated lawyers within its own ranks to more senior positions, with its partner total now standing at 63.
The firm is now pressing ahead with plans to move to new premises in Edinburgh, with the switch to Citypoint at 65 Haymarket Terrace poised to triple its capacity in the city.
Two new partners, in banking and finance and dispute resolution, will join its team in Edinburgh, where the partner total has doubled to 10 in the last two years. The firm's 27 staff are due to move into the new office in the middle of June.
Mr Darroch said its expansion in Edinburgh could be followed by moves into new towns and cities in Scotland. He said: "We are an opportunistic business and so there are geographies that we are considering. There are new geographies where we currently have clients but don't have offices. We are assessing what the opportunities are in those geographies for a permanent presence."
Mr Darroch said the firm's latest accounts show Harper Macleod has risen to the challenge brought by the emergence of stronger brands in the Scottish market such as Pinsent Masons and CMS.
He said the firm had achieved strong rates of tender wins and client retention, while winning new business in sectors such as energy and natural resources. He pointed to the expansion of its corporate team, which is advising on a growing number of deals, and highlighted the impact of the brand's status as legal adviser to the Commonwealth Games last year, which he said boosted staff engagement, well-being and productivity.
The association with Glasgow 2014 has led it to be invited to tender for a greater number of contracts.
Mr Darroch said: "For brand [and] profile, it's been a very positive year, not just because of the Commonwealth Games but because of success of the firm in terms of how we are performing, how it's perceived in a market that is maturing year on year."
Mr Darroch described general economic conditions as "pretty flat" and said the value of the Scottish legal sector was worth £1bn - compared with between £1.2bn and £1.3bn before the recession.
But he insisted there is still significant scope to grow in Scotland. Highlighting the importance of retaining and attracting the best legal talent, he said: "No one firm has more than five per cent of the overall market and there's a real opportunity to increase our market share as the legal scene continues to evolve."
He added: "Growth will only come from winning market share, or making sure you are the market leader in emerging fields such as the innovation and renewables space."
While he remains confident of achieving organic growth, Mr Darroch acknowledged that further consolidation in the Scottish legal scene was likely.
He pointed to the appointment by Brodies last week of the 15-strong family law team from Simpson & Marwick to back up the assertion.
Simpson & Marwick is currently in advanced merger talks with Clyde & Co, a UK top 20 law firm.
Mr Darroch, who refused to rule Harper Macleod out of making acquisition plays itself, said: "We have had approaches from firms smaller than us in Scotland which we have chosen not to progress because it did not meet our business needs and our culture needs.
"I know there are firms that see it a necessity to be part of a better business structure and stronger balance sheet."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article