Brodies has recorded its 15th consecutive year of revenue growth, upping turnover 11% in the year to 30 April 2025 to £126.7m.
The firm – which in 2023 became the first Scottish headquartered law firm to report income over £100m – grew operating profit slightly from £49.2m to more than £50m, while profit per equity partner rose 4.6% to £885k having flatlined in FY24.
Brodies said it had made progress across all of its core practice areas – banking and finance, corporate and commercial, dispute resolution and risk, personal and family, and real estate, adding it saw growth in instructions for work in Scotland, the UK and internationally.
Over the course of the year the firm grew headcount by 5% from 837 to 883, including the hire of banking and finance partner James Wilson in Edinburgh from Dentons.
The firm also invested in salary increases and bonus payments, with all eligible staff receiving a bonus of 5%, up from the 3% the firm dished out in June 2024. Individual performance bonuses were also awarded during the year.
Cash balances at year-end were £23.7m, having dipped to £20.9m the year before off the back of investment in recruitment, IT and infrastructure, including completing the upgrades of its offices in Aberdeen and Glasgow.
The firm’s latest results come as Iain Rutherford steps up to chair, succeeding Christine O’Neill KC, who completed four three-year terms in the role. O’Neill continues in her role as a partner in Brodies’ disputes team.
The results are also the first for the firm under the leadership of Stephen Goldie, who took over as managing partner at the start of last May from Nick Scott.
Goldie said the firm had achieved progress “amid continuing domestic and global headwinds”.
“As we enter the second year of our current three-year strategic cycle, we remain focused on recognising the talent and contribution of our colleagues, encouraging greater collaboration across our firm and with our clients, and investing in our offices and in technology that augments the high standards our clients expect,” Goldie said.
“We also welcome our new chair, Iain Rutherford, and extend our utmost thanks to Christine O’Neill KC for the wisdom and unwavering commitment she brought to the role of chair.”
Standout work for the firm in the past financial year included acting for AIM-listed oil and gas company The Parkmead Group on its sale of Parkmead to Serica Energy and for Three60 Energy on its acquisition of Samphire Subsea. It also advised Connexin on its successful bid for the Nottinghamshire and West Lincolnshire lot under Project Gigabit, the UK government’s £4.9bn infrastructure subsidy programme to provide fibre broadband to hard-to-reach communities.
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