Scottish law firm Ledingham Chalmers has unveiled a rise in annual turnover from £13.6 million to £14.2m but its pre-tax profits dipped from £4m to £3.5m.
The firm noted its headcount had grown by more than 25% since April 2022, exceeding 200 for the first time, as it announced the results for the year to March 31, 2023.
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Managing partner Jennifer Young said “much of the difference in profit” is because of investment in the firm’s “fast-growing workforce”, combined with “factors affecting all businesses such as inflation and higher operating overheads”.
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She said: “All that means we’re not wedded to the numbers we outlined in 2019 to double turnover to £25 million by 2025.
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]“We’re operating in a competitive post-pandemic marketplace for attracting and retaining talent - and we’re investing in a fast-growing workforce. We continue to benchmark salaries as part of our long-term sustainable growth strategy.”
The firm noted it had also allocated nearly £280,000 in “non-contractual bonuses” in the last financial year, including through its performance-related pay scheme.
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Since January 2023, 31 people have joined Ledingham Chalmers, which has offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Inverness, and Stirling.
The firm’s headcount on October 31 was 210, compared with 166 in April 2022, including 27 partners, and a further five people were due to join before the end of November.
Ledingham Chalmers said that recruitment is also under way for a further five posts, with plans to hire four lawyers and a paralegal.
The law firm noted that partner Mike Morrice had joined the commercial property team in Aberdeen in October from Burness Paull.
It added that Gary Hunt, who has around 25 years of human resources experience in the energy sector, had come on board in November as head of human resources, also in Aberdeen.
The firm flagged, as another senior hire, Edinburgh-based Coral Bain joining to take up a newly created, pan-Scotland head of risk and compliance role in October, “overseeing aspects such as Law Society of Scotland standards and regulations, anti-money laundering rules and data protection”.
It noted Ms Bain, who joined from Addleshaw Goddard, is a qualified solicitor with “specialist experience in construction and engineering disputes as well as in professional regulatory risk, ethics, and governance”.
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