MacRoberts welcomes new clients as success continues

06/11/2019
Neil Kennedy of MacRoberts

INDEPENDENT commercial law firm, MacRoberts has welcomed a number of new clients to the firm as a result of recent competitive tendering exercises, at time where the firm also announced a rise in both turnover and profits.

In the private sector, the firm has been appointed to act for CALA Homes as part of a select panel of legal advisers. MacRoberts also won a place on the newly established legal panel for the Robertson Group, one of the UK’s largest family-owned construction, infrastructure and support services businesses.

These appointments follow a very successful year for their Real Estate team, which was named Property Team of the Year at the British Legal Awards 2018 in London. This is a huge accolade for a Scottish independent firm, which was fighting off competition from international and magic circle firms.

MacRoberts is also doing equally well in the public sector, having recently secured all six lots on the Scottish Government Legal Services Framework after a highly competitive tender process. This followed their appointment to the Crown Commercial Services Framework in 2018, which covers the whole UK public sector.

Other areas of the business have also experienced growth and success with the Corporate Finance team having a record year acting in 123 deals worth in excess of £600m. The deals spanned a large number of sectors and a wide range of deal values, involving both ends of the spectrum, from large PLCs to some of Scotland’s most ambitious start-ups. This included deals on behalf of BAM Properties, Black & Lizars, Breedon Aggregates, Equitix, Renaissance Care, Renewi Group and Together Energy.  The team has been shortlisted for M&A Team of the Year at the British Legal Awards 2019 that takes place in London on 22 November.

The firm’s recent successes have coincided with them announcing that, in spite of an unstable political landscape, it has enjoyed a 12% rise in profits and a 4% rise in turnover for the year 2018/19. This was against a backdrop of continued investment in people, best available technology, flexible working practices and fairer remuneration structures. In 2018/19, MacRoberts more than doubled its non-partner bonuses (including a firm wide bonus for every member of staff).

Laura Wilson, Director of Business Development & Marketing, said: “We invested in overhauling our bid processes and methodology. The legal services market is highly competitive and we are seeing the rise of procurement departments, who seek quality of service and value for money from their legal suppliers. I am very pleased that we have been able to demonstrate our capability across the firm with these recent prestigious appointments”.

Neil Kennedy, Managing Partner, said: “Our recent tender wins and pleasing financial performance is testament to the hard work by everyone at MacRoberts. I am very proud of my team here and look forward to continuing our success as we grow and develop together.”

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