Professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal scaling Scottish presence with new Edinburgh office and expanding Glasgow operation

New York-based professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) is strengthening its foothold in Scotland by opening an office in Edinburgh and scaling up existing premises in Glasgow.

The firm says bringing a new restructuring team to the market north of the Border reinforces its position in the UK, with the division set to primarily support stakeholders in Scottish corporates.

It will be run by Ben Cairns, an MD who has been with A&M since 2017. He has 20-plus years’ experience advising in restructuring situations, and previously spent 23 years with EY, where he was partner, leading teams in the core restructuring practice.

A&M said Mr Cairns aims to grow the Scotland-based restructuring team to 20 practitioners in coming months, with the unit complementing the firm’s existing tax team in Glasgow, and “likely to be shortly followed by other service lines”.

The business said it made its first hire in Scotland in February 2020, signing up Donald Campbell to A&M Taxand, an affiliate of A&M, as an MD. The team has now grown to 18 advisers.

Mr Cairns said: “Businesses across Scotland are under growing pressure as challenges mount. Supply-chain disruption, inflation and the rising cost of capital are combining to frustrate business plans, following hot on the heels of the market turmoil of the pandemic. A&M is well-placed to help businesses navigate this new context.”

He will be joined by new hires next month including Kevin Lamb, a specialist in restructuring and turnaround who has been named a senior director and will be based in Edinburgh, and Roddy McKellar, who will join from a Big Four accountancy firm as a director based in Glasgow.