Legal giant Addleshaw Goddard firing up ‘ambitious plans’ for Scotland after double-digit growth

Alan Shanks, the firm’s head of Scotland, hinted at “ambitious plans” for the Scottish arm as it recorded income growth of 17 per cent over the past financial year. That was ahead of the 12 per cent growth seen firm-wide and marked the seventh consecutive year of double-digit increases.

Shanks pointed to strong performances in all three Scottish offices - Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen. The firm, which has some 300 people north of the Border, welcomed 12 new partners in Scotland, including ten lateral hires from other firms, and is currently looking at office relocations in Glasgow and Edinburgh to facilitate its growth plans.

Across the firm as a whole, revenue rose 12 per cent to just under £496 million for the past financial year. Total profit for the period was up 14 per cent to £210.5m. UK income grew by 11 per cent, in line with the prior year.

Shanks highlighted areas including corporate, property, disputes and “global investigations” as having a particularly successful year, as well as infrastructure, projects and energy, where the team has added a further four partners making it the largest in Scotland, he claimed.

“These results mark another excellent year for Addleshaw Goddard as the firm has once again achieved significant success across all markets, with our performance in Scotland contributing strongly to that success,” added Shanks. “Our teams across the country provide services to clients locally, nationally and globally, and are well regarded for their first-rate work in all practice areas and sectors. We have ambitious plans for Scotland, where our aim is to be the leading law firm in the country while supporting the growth of Addleshaw Goddard internationally.”

The firm, whose clients include 51 of the companies making up the FTSE 100 Index, reported 24 per cent income growth outside the Middle East and UK, with France, Germany and Luxembourg all said to be tracking ahead of plan.

Client-wise it pointed to a number of highlights in the past year, including being involved in nearly one third of all UK takeovers firmly announced in 2023. The firm’s lawyers played a role in BT Group’s sale of London’s iconic BT Tower and JD Sports’ bumper acquisition of US retailer Hibbett.

Andrew Johnston, Addleshaw Goddard’s managing partner, said: “These results show us continuing our positive trajectory with higher revenues, improved profitability and strong cash position. We saw growing client demand across a number of service-lines, particularly in areas we have been investing in such as funds, restructuring, global investigations and financial services. Our teams across the UK & Ireland, EMEA and Asia worked incredibly hard to deliver another strong year.

“AG’s continued momentum and strong balance sheet places us well to invest further in key markets, practice areas and sectors globally. The diversified nature of our business, coupled with our international expansion and other strategic investments, particularly in innovation and technology, means we are better placed than ever to support and service clients wherever they are doing business.”