Revenues rose by eight per cent in the first half at independent Scottish law firm Anderson Strathern, thanks to client wins and organic growth.

Turnover in the six months to 28 February 2018 at the Edinburgh, Glasgow and East Lothian based firm was £11 million, according to managing partner, Murray McCall.

“We have secured a series of high quality commercial instructions during the first half, including the reappointment by Crown Estate Scotland who are one of the firm’s long-standing clients,” he says.

The firm chalked up wins from Advanced Procurement for Universities and Colleges (APUC), the University of the West of Scotland, West College Scotland and Beijing Gold Solar in the first half. The APUC instruction makes it the only Scottish law firm to be ranked in all lots of the APUC and Scottish Government Legal Services Frameworks.

The wins also cement the firm’s position in the west of Scotland. Mr McCall, a Kilmarnock native, became the firm’s first managing partner from the west coast when he was appointed in 2014.

“I helped to set up the Glasgow office 12 years ago,” he says. “Now there are 60 of us, and we cover all service areas from Glasgow as well as Edinburgh.”

The Beijing Gold Solar win bolsters the firm’s credentials in the renewable energy sector. Anderson Strathern has been in the sector for 10 years, acting for clients such as Elgin Energy and Bluemerang Capital. Mr McCall says the appointment last year of retired Wright Johnston & Mackenzie partner Alan Simpson as a renewable energy consultant has helped attract international clients.

Anderson Strathern’s positive half-year performance builds on last year’s results. Turnover for the year to 31 August 2017 grew by 2.5% to £21.5 million and net profits grew by 4%. This followed a challenging year in 2016, when the firm’s August year-end left it in prime position to take a bloody nose from the Brexit vote in June.

Two years on, opacity as to what Brexit will mean makes it impossible for clients to develop a coherent strategy, says Mr McCall, and so they are getting back to the day job, with compliance issues such as the general data protection regulation (GDPR) consuming most attention. At the same time, the Anderson Strathern’s employment practice has been bolstered by the Supreme Court’s decision to abolish fees for employment tribunals.

As a result, the f irm, which has 53 partners and over 230 employees, has seen steady, organic growth over the past 12 to 18 months in its main areas of litigation, employment law, commercial law and private client work – and without the benefit of any significant mergers.

“It can be done without mega-mergers,” says Mr McCall. “We have focused on bringing in good individuals or small teams or firms. If you go bigger it brings with it a lot of risk.”

Having steadied the ship after the Brexit vote, Anderson Strathern is now planning for the next three years. The firm will need investment, not least to deal with the growing area of risk and compliance, say Mr McCall. He is also determined to expand flexible working within the firm to give everyone an opportunity to use it. The firm is an accredited Investor in Young People Gold Standard, but McCall stresses the contribution older workers can make with the right working arrangements.

Mr McCall said of Brexit: “As lawyers, we want to help clients to navigate it but it’s hard to advise in a vacuum.”