07 Feb 2018

Thorntons delivers another year of strong growth in turnover and profits

MSI's Scottish law member Thorntons has recorded strong financial results to May 2017 – reporting growth in turnover and profit across all areas of the business. The 56 Partner firm, one of the largest full service firms in Scotland, has undergone a period of significant investment which has resulted in an overall increase in turnover of 4.5% to £23.9 million.

Notable increases across work types include:

Land and Rural Business +11%
Immigration +38%
Business Law +17%
Dispute Resolution +7%
Private Client +15%
Residential Conveyancing +20%

Profitability has increased by 18% and the firm is confident that its commitment to continuously improving the efficiency of its operational processes and investment in service provision will ensure increased profitability in future years. Craig Nicol, joint Managing Partner at Thorntons, said: “Following a significant period of growth we are now focusing on strengthening our full service offering which in turn benefits both our long standing and new clients. We are proud of our office footprint and our spread of locations, which allow us to deliver advice where clients need it. We’ll continue to develop all our office locations, in particular Edinburgh as we seek new premises in the capital, as well as targeted development across all of our specialist sectors. Our business has continued to grow through the latter part of 2017.” The footprint of the firm has grown following a number of strategic mergers and investments.Most recently, in September 2017, Thorntons acquired the Fife and Edinburgh firm Pagan Osborne out of administration, saving 65 jobs. At the time, the firm said its aim was to provide a seamless transition for clients and preserve the maximum number of jobs. Craig added: “We are still at early stages of integrating the Pagan Osborne business and hope to be able to deliver strength and depth to our new who came when we completed the acquisition. “Our latest financial results will enable us to continue to invest in our employees and technology as we endeavour to build on the hard work of our teams across the firm.” Thorntons has also had a hugely successful 12 months receiving a number of awards, recommendations and recognitions in top Scottish business and UK-wide trade polls. This includes being named one of the top 100 firms in the UK as listed by The Lawyer. The firm was awarded the titles of Scotland’s Best Large Employer in September 2017, for the second year running with Business Insider, and Law Firm of the Year 2017 (Over 40 Fee Earners) at the Law Awards of Scotland in November last year. Thorntons is legal firm of choice for universities and colleges in Scotland as has retained its position on the panel appointed on all six legal services lots by the Advanced Procurement for Universities and Colleges (APUC) as part of a recent tendering exercise.

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