Ledingham Chalmers' results edge ahead after recent falls

Legal firm Ledingham Chalmers has seen modest growth in both revenue and profit for the 2017-18 financial year, ending a period of decline due to the economic problems affecting the north east of Scotland where it has its main office.

Group turnover for the year ending 31 March 2018, including wholly-owned subsidiary Golden Square Wealth Management, was over £11.6m, compared with just over £11.5m the year before. Profits were up from £3.4m to £3.6m. The firm said the results were ahead of forecast.

Three years ago the firm, which has offices in Aberdeen, Inverness, Stirling and Edinburgh, recorded revenue of £12.5m and profir of £4.3m. It has been hit in particular by the effects of the oil price downturn.

Chairman and partner Jennifer Young commented: "We’ve spoken a lot in the past about focusing on sustainable growth and we believe these figures show that approach is starting to pay off against an improving, yet still challenging, economic backdrop.

"The only certainty in the legal services marketplace is the level and speed of change, and we’ve adapted and continued to concentrate on providing what we know is a valuable service to clients, with the SME sector an area of particular focus with high potential.

"And between April last year and March, we’ve spent numerous hours on the road speaking to hundreds of people from these businesses at more than 20 events about topics that affect them, from GDPR compliance and construction law to collaboration in the oil and gas industry."

Brian Hay, the firm’s chief executive officer, added: "Our private client, commercial property and litigation offerings across all of our offices contributed to the increase on the year before, with continued strong performances from our corporate work."

Meanwhile, the firm continues to attract significant external recognition including in the prestigious Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 directories.

Ledingham Chalmers currently has 134 staff, including 32 partners. In June this year it announced a merger with Aberdeen practice Gray & Connochie, increasing its headcount by 11.