Turnover up at Pinsent Masons after Scots merger

Pinsent Masons merged with Scots law firm McGrigors in June last year

Scotland's largest legal employer, international law firm Pinsent Masons, has reported a provisional 5% rise in turnover.

It follows its merger last year with Edinburgh-based company McGrigors.

Pinsent Masons, which has offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, has published unaudited results for the year to the end of April 2013.

It said turnover was £309m, meaning revenues have in effect grown by 40% in the wake of the merger.

The two legacy firms had a notional combined turnover of £294m for 2011/12, with turnover for Pinsent Masons alone last year standing at £221m.

Pinsent Masons employs more than 2,500 people.

Important clients

The firm said the merger with McGrigors, which happened last June, had been just one part of a year of "significant progress".

It has opened offices in Munich and Paris, doubled the size of its team in Shanghai and in February also announced the launch of a presence in Istanbul.

Pinsent Masons also said it had secured several important clients in the past year and picked up some of "the most significant mandates in the Scottish legal market".

It acted for oil and gas firm Aker Solutions on its purchase of Ennovate, advised on the management-buy-out of Cala Homes and lead for Rangers Football Club on its recent investigation into links between Craig Whyte and Charles Green.

Kirk Murdoch, Scotland and Northern Ireland chairman at Pinsent Masons, said: "We have made excellent progress in what has been one of the most significant years in the firm's history.

"In addition to cementing our place as the pre-eminent law firm in Scotland, we are also increasingly helping our Scottish clients to succeed in new markets at home and abroad.

"The market for commercial legal work in Scotland remains challenging but we are winning market share as a direct result of our greater strength in depth, international reach and investment in finding new ways to deliver legal services."