Anderson Strathern considers expansion into north east

Anderson Strathern’s managing partner has said the firm is considering expanding into Dundee and Aberdeen.

Murray McCall, who took up his role last September, said he is also averaging a meeting a week with potential lawyers from others firms.

He said the firm is on the lookout for lateral hires of senior lawyers as well as teams.

Currently, Anderson Strathern, whose revenue in the 12 months to August 2014 was £21.5 million, has offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Haddington in East Lothian but Mr McCall added that expanding into the north east might not be by means of a physical presence right away.

He said: “Technology has meant you don’t actually have to have an actual office in an area as long as you are delivering service to your client in the way they want.

“You can go and visit clients in their premises wherever they might be.

“We can service clients very well from our main offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh but notwithstanding Aberdeen would certainly be the sort of place we would be looking at were we to set up another office.

“Dundee would be another and there are other parts of the country we would explore as well with places like Perth.”

Mr McCall also noted that the lower oil price would not prove a barrier to the firm expanding, saying: “I wouldn’t say the current situation with oil and gas is creating difficulty as I still think Aberdeen is a very vibrant economy.”

On the question of mergers Mr McCall said there was nothing in the pipeline but added that this is always an active issue.

He said: “At any given time there is a discussion of some kind and at some level going on. We have never looked for a significant merger partner.

“We have tended to look more at lateral hires or a group grab of the right set of partners.

“In the current legal market you can never rule out a fairly big legal merger but you have to ask yourself whether it is the right thing for the business and the people in the business.

“There is no harm in having a coffee and a chat but most of these chats lead nowhere.”

In regards to lateral hires, Mr McCall added: “I am actively engaged in talking to lateral hires on a weekly basis. I probably see at least one new potential partner on a weekly basis and have been for some months now.”

The firm’s managing partner also drew attention to an uptick in activity in the Scottish legal market in the years after the financial crash.

In particular, he cited growth in areas which had been hit hard including banking and construction and property.

He said: “It is hard to put a finger on exactly when that happened but I would say within the past 12 months.

“There are still a few dark clouds on the horizon as we don’t know how things will play out globally and there is nervousness about the eurozone.”