Macmillan outlines MacRoberts' growth plans

Law firm MacRoberts is targeting a 10% headcount growth in the coming year, according to its new managing partner John Macmillan.

Mr Macmillan, who was recently elected to the post which he also held from 1998 to 2005, was in charge of MacRoberts' move into Dundee last year – a prime target for the projected growth as the firm aims to double its workforce there over the next 12 months due to increasing demand. It also has offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow, with a total staff of about 220.

The forecasts came as MacRoberts announced its results for 2013-14. Turnover in the year to 30 April was marginally up, from £17,508,401 to £17,594,283, while profit after tax rose by over 2% from £5,895,559 to£6,017,886.

MacRoberts hailed the figures as "demonstrating the strong underlying financial position of the company". Mr Macmillan commented: “We have spent the last three years building a strong foundation for growth, developing a vision and a strong strategy for the firm.

“This is a really interesting time for MacRoberts, the legal profession and for Scotland, following the independence referendum and the country coming out of recession. People are seeing signs of better things ahead and there are a number of sectors where there is significantly more activity.”

He added that while work in areas such as employment and crisis management had declined following the recession, corporate projects, banking and construction contracts were all showing strong growth and will support the planned workforce growth.

Dundee is currently at the centre of major construction activity, including the building of the £1.1bn waterfront regeneration project which is expected to create up to 9,000 new jobs and attract over 3m visitors to the city. It is also now the hub of the Scottish digital media sector, and the creative industries sector continues to grow.

Mr Macmillan claimed: “It’s been a great start to the Dundee operation. Business has increased significantly; we have built up more clients and more business from existing clients. It’s a really good story.”