Gillespie Macandrew latest to report 2017-18 growth

Legal firm Gillespie Macandrew has reported a sixth year of growth in its financial results for 2017-18.

Turnover for the year to 28 February 2018 was up by 6% from £11.36m to £12.01m, while profits, which last year took a 2.9% dip to £2.77m, rose 8% to close to the £3m mark. The firm said it had "continued to focus on organic growth across its offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Perth with a focused, sector-led strategy", citing strong activity in its Energy team and hires and internal promotions in the Commercial Real Estate, Construction & Planning, and Tax teams. The number of partners and staff is up over the year from 137 to 144.

Gillespie Macandrew is the first Scottish law firm to have appointed non-lawyers to both of its senior management roles, with Fiona Morton becoming chair in March 2017 and Robert Graham-Campbell CEO in October 2017. It also runs its own development and training academy for its senior lawyers and other staff, using a mix of internal and external providers, and several participants have since become partners in the firm.

Partners donate 1% of their pre-tax profits to charity every year. Its two partner charities are Children in Scotland and The Rock Trust. Staff support these and other charities, including Rossie Young People’s Trust, on a range of CSR activities including volunteer away days and staff-led fund raisers.

Mr Graham-Campbell commented: "It has been a full and exciting year for the firm. We have achieved another year of strong financial performance with satisfactory growth in turnover and profits. We continue to be debt free and with strong cash balances, providing a strong financial base for investment in improvements in our services to clients, for example in training and developing our staff and in IT solutions, as well as in growing our business through expansion.

"Against a backdrop of continued political and economic uncertainty, Gillespie Macandrew continues to see opportunities for growth in our sector-led focus. With offices in Edinburgh, Perth and Glasgow, our priorities remain to further reinforce our existing service areas and to expand our presence in these locations in order to deliver long term profitable growth."