With the expansion of UK and international firms north of the border, as well as the stepping down of former managing partner Bill Drummond, Scottish leader Brodies has for the past two years endured what was by its own high standards pedestrian growth. 2018/19, however, has seen a return to form and place in the top 50 for the first time. Revenue increased 12% to £76.9m while profit per equity partner jumped 16% to £708,000.
These year-on-year growth rates are much faster than last year’s 3% and 4% respectively for revenue and profit, while the firm’s five-year growth track sees the top line up 48%. For managing partner Nick Scott, the performance comes after his first full financial year in charge – some validation for the man who had the difficult task of replacing the highly-regarded Drummond.
The year’s highlights include acting for cloud software provider Episerver in September 2018 on its sale to US-based private equity house Insight Partners for $1.16bn. The firm also acted for Premier Oil on the drafting and negotiation of agreements relating to the development of the Tolmount field – one of the largest undeveloped gas discoveries in the southern North Sea.
The firm has also enjoyed a purple patch advising national political bodies. Chair Christine O’Neill acted for the Scottish Parliament’s Finance and Constitutional Committee on matters arising out of the EU (Withdrawal) Bill; the UK Parliament’s Trade Bill and the Scottish Parliament’s own Brexit legislation.
The firm has also bolstered its bench. Overall lawyer headcount increased 7% to 364, with Aberdeen receiving the lion’s share of the growth, increasing headcount in the city 16%. One of the additions to the Aberdeen office was planning partner Elaine Farquharson-Black, who decamped from rival Burness Paull, while oil and gas in-house lawyer Bryan Wilson also joined, having been general counsel at Maersk and latterly Total.
The financials will provide a strong platform for Scott’s plans moving ahead. The firm is looking to further invest in laterals, while new premises in Edinburgh and the rolling out of a rebrand should make for a positive start to 2020, despite the persistent gnaw of uncertainty on the UK economy.
How have you managed to be resilient?
Nick Scott: It’s a broad book of business and clients that we’ve got. There’s no certainty in anything anymore, but people have realised they just have to get on with it. There are funds with cash that need a return and they have to invest. The market was fairly resilient in terms of client demand, but some of it was market share; we made progress in our share of the market.
Any particular areas booming at the moment?
Scott: It’s been across the sectors. Intellectual property in the corporate sector; real estate saw us act on one of the largest urban regeneration projects in the UK. There’s been plenty of M&A in the oil and gas sector, and there’s been work for the Scottish government.
How do you see the rest of the year?
Scott: We anticipated last year that there would be a point when everyone just sat on their hands; we thought that might be in the lead up to and immediate aftermath of March. Of course, that date’s gone away. For us, client activity continues at a decent level. Do I think that will be the case over the next 12 months? It’s a fool’s errand to make any predictions. You can only make progress while you can as there’s a limit to how much we can control in terms of the political and economic backdrop.