Global law firm with 500 Scottish staff sees turnover pass through half a billion

Pinsent Masons, the global legal heavyweight that employs more than 500 lawyers and support staff in Scotland, has seen turnover break through £500 million for the first time.
Richard Foley, senior partner at Pinsent Masons: 'For us, success is to fulfil a purpose, and our purpose is to make business work better for people.'Richard Foley, senior partner at Pinsent Masons: 'For us, success is to fulfil a purpose, and our purpose is to make business work better for people.'
Richard Foley, senior partner at Pinsent Masons: 'For us, success is to fulfil a purpose, and our purpose is to make business work better for people.'

Releasing its year-end results, the firm said it had also extended its global presence to 26 locations with the opening of an office in the Netherlands.

Turnover for the year totalled £503.3m and the business recorded 19 per cent growth over a five-year period. Profit per equity partner hit £636,000 – up 16 per cent against the prior year.

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During the past year, Glasgow-based partner and corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A) specialist Rosalie Chadwick was appointed global head of the firm’s oil and gas practice, while Scottish-based lawyers played a central role in completing a number or major transactions on behalf of domestic and international clients.

The firm advised Miller Homes on the acquisition of Wallace Land, while its energy team advised on a host of deals in the North Sea.

Richard Foley, senior partner at Pinsent Masons, said: “For us, success is to fulfil a purpose, and our purpose is to make business work better for people. If we get that right then financial success will follow, as we saw when we broke through the £500m revenue mark this year. But financial improvements are a product of a successful business, not the measure of it.

“We assess ourselves against metrics that represent what is truly meaningful to our stakeholders and that help us to focus on bettering ourselves as a purpose-led organisation.

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“During a particularly challenging year we’ve continued to focus on and measure ourselves against these metrics and we will continue to do so as we strive to improve against them going forward.”

The firm employs nearly 3,000 people worldwide, including around 1,500 lawyers and 400 partners.

Managing partner John Cleland added: “We have supported our clients on some standout matters this year. By way of example, these include advising Tesla on Australia’s first virtual power plant to provide cheaper, cleaner power to South Australia [and] advising Resonance on the launch of a series of impact investment funds including the Women in Safe Homes fund.”

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