Harper Macleod unveils best profits despite turnover dip

Legal firm Harper Macleod has marked its 30th year in business by announcing record profitability in its 2017-18 financial year, despite a small dip in turnover.

Revenue totalled £26.5m, down 1.1% from the £26.8m of the previous year, but profits saw a 4.2% rise from £9.8m to £10.2m.

The 2016-17 year saw turnover grow from £25.7m to £26.8m, or 4.3%, and profit from £9.08m to £9.8m, or just under 8%.

The firm said that at a time when the legal market within Scotland continued to face significant challenges, it had maintained its strong balance sheet, providing it with "the ability to make further investments over the coming period".

Since acquiring Bird Semple (Glasgow) in 2014, Dowle Smith & Rutherford of Lerwick in 2015 and Inverness practice Allen & Shaw in 2016, the value of its private client and residential property practice has more than doubled and private individuals have become its largest client group.

It has also seen a 12% rise in revenue from law firms outwith Scotland requiring advice in the jurisdiction.

Chief executive Martin Darroch commented: "These results show our commitment to a strategy of sanity, not vanity. We constantly work to improve the efficiency and productivity of our business and have quietly reshaped our model over the past few years without compromising our bottom line. After making a number of acquisitions to further our strategic aims, we said the past few years would be a period of consolidation and I'm delighted to say that has been carried out successfully."

He added: "We have shown growth in all our main areas of activity over the past few years, with the exception of the insurance sector where after analysing the direction of the UK-wide market we made a strategic decision to lower the proportion of our business that accounts for. It is this type of proactive planning which has allowed us to thrive."

Firm chairman Professor Lorne Crerar said: "This is yet another exciting year for Harper Macleod and I'm delighted that we have entered it in such a strong position. While in many ways the business is unrecognisable from the one we started 30 years ago, one thing that hasn't changed is our culture – that drive to do things differently has stood us in good stead.

"Ours is a lean, strategically aligned business which is full of people who know their role in delivering the best legal services and that can only be to the benefit of all of our clients."