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Ledingham Chalmers strengthens for growth as turnover and profits rise in fifth year as LLP

SCOTTISH law firm Ledingham Chalmers is targeting continued growth across the country as it marks five years as an LLP by announcing steady rises in turnover and profits, backed by a strengthening of its team of qualified staff.

The firm and its subsidiary, Golden Square Wealth Management, secured a 3% increase in turnover to £9.9million, supported by the ongoing recovery of the residential and commercial property sectors. Group profits totalled £3.5m, an increase of 2.5% on 2009/10.

Costs totalled £6.2m, broadly in line with the previous year.

David Laing, chairman of Ledingham Chalmers LLP, says the growth achieved against a background of continuing global economic uncertainty is testament to the firm’s sound market presence, excellent people and solid client base.

"These results mark five successful years for the firm as a LLP, during which the economy has undergone dramatic changes, bringing challenges and necessitating reappraisals for businesses nationwide," says Laing.

"At the financial year-end in 2010, we did not anticipate any significant short term recovery, and that outlook has been confirmed across most business sectors, including our own.

"One of the most significant changes in the overall shape of legal business in recent years has been the drop evident in transactional work, in corporate finance transactions including merger, acquisition and disposal of companies and businesses, to larger-scale commercial property sales and purchases.

"At the same time the demand for non-transactional advisory and litigation services has grown and this has helped to maintain and indeed increase our overall level of activity.

"It remains our intention to grow the firm’s business in order to continue to serve our extensive and diverse client base in each of the public, private and third sectors.”

The firm's headcount remains steady at 150, including partners, with the number of qualified lawyers at 66 including partners across all disciplines.

"There are three key descriptions of the firm which we work hard to maintain and which remain as true today as ever – a household name in business circles, a firm with which people really want to do business and a firm where people really want to work," adds Laing.

"During the year, we were pleased to welcome private client partner Douglas Watson from Adam Cochran and to promote corporate associate Rod Hutchison to partner. We also marked the retirements of long-standing corporate partners Robin Brodie and Eunice McConnach along with private client partner Paul Lewis, who moved to an in-house position with a national company based in Aberdeen.

"We are glad that our trainee complement is back up to strength, with five recruits arriving for their first year and seven moving into their second year, while we have also seen new appointments at solicitor level across our work areas."

Ledingham Chalmers' efforts to support local and national causes saw staff across the business making valuable contributions to the communities in which they work, while its Charitable Trust made donations totalling £16,625 during the year.

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