Gillespie Macandrew boss gears up for firm expansion

“It’s a very exciting firm,” Mr Graham-Campbell said.

“I was particularly attracted to it because it is really well known for what it does – renewable energy, strategic land, private client and rural – but there are other areas where I see huge potential.

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"I also liked its ambition to evolve and modernise. It wasn’t sitting on its laurels.”

The fact that Mr Graham-Campbell replaced another non-lawyer – Chris West – at the head of the firm and works alongside chairman Fiona Morton, a surveyor by profession, is a sign of how the firm plans to move with the times.

Although non-lawyer managers are hardly unheard of in Scottish firms – Harper Macleod chief executive Martin Darroch is an accountant and Thorntons chief operating officer Helen Archibald was previously assistant principal at Dundee and Angus College – they remain the exception rather than the rule.

But Mr Graham-Campbell, who was previously chief executive of London barristers’ chambers 7 Bedford Row and Maitland Chambers as well as the law firm Pemberton Greenish, feels the model has distinct advantages over the traditional partner-led set-up.

“I think one of the benefits of having a non-lawyer chief executive is that I come from a background that is not dealing directly with clients and that brings a certain objectivity to the role,” he said.

“Also, because I’m not in the partnership that brings objectivity because I’m there to oversee the long-term success of the business, not just short-term interests.

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“Most importantly, it leaves our lawyers to do what they have excelled at: client-facing work.

"I think clients like to know there is a commercial person in the leadership role. It can be a comfort to them to know we are running a business in a business-like way.”

In that context, Mr Graham-Campbell is keen for the firm to not just continue doing what it has in the past, but to look to where it can expand in the future.

“Our ambition is to secure relationships, attract the best people and grow profitability over the long term,” he said.

“We have to stay focused and not broaden out into becoming a generalist or being in too many areas for which we are not well known, but we see the potential in growing regionally.

“We have offices in Perth and Glasgow and expanding those is a current priority.”

Mr Graham-Campbell said the focus of the firm’s Perth office, which he describes as “a bridgehead” for the wider private client and rural practices, is unlikely to change.

However, he added that he believes there is scope to alter the practice mix at its Glasgow base.

“Glasgow is different in that areas such as commercial property are much more potent for expansion,” he said.

“At Pemberton Greenish that’s one thing we particularly did – expanded the commercial property side of the business – and it became the largest area of the practice. I can see it doubling within our own practice.”

In the last financial year, which ended in February, Gillespie Macandrew saw its turnover increase by five per cent to £12 million while partner profits were up by 7% to £3m. That marked a six-year period of turnover growth, but was just the second year of profit growth.

Read more: Scottish law firm Gillespie Macandrew reports sixth consecutive year of growth

Mr Graham-Campbell said that while the firm is keen to bolster its top line further, the focus from now on is to ensure that all growth is profitable.

“The real difficulty for us is prioritising the opportunities and getting them in order because we can’t do everything at once while at the same time managing a steady progression, which is what I want to achieve,” he said.

“I’m not interested in turnover for the sake of being bigger. I’m interested in growing profitability over time because that’s what keeps people interested in the business and attracts young people in.”