Ashurst Glasgow support centre set to exceed 300 staff target

Ashurst’s support centre in Glasgow is set to beat its target of taking on 300 staff by 2018, with plans to double the risk and compliance assessment team The Lawyer reports.

Mike Polson, Glasgow managing partner said that when the office was first set up “there was a five-year plan to have 300 people in the city”.

But it now looks like that target will be exceeded.

The office currently houses about 210 people – among them legal analysts, lawyers and risk and compliance specialists.

The firm is expected to double the number of risk and compliance specialists by January next year, taking the figure from 15 to 30, a need prompted by increased regulation in the sector.

Mr Polson said there was more investment in this role with the team giving advice internally, to clients and on issues including sanctions.

Originally, Ashurst expected to have 150 employees in the Glasgow office by June 2014 after it transferred a large section of its London support staff north of the border.

But the office is now the fourth biggest, after London, Sydney and Melbourne.

It announced last year it was tweaking the business model by adding two lawyers to the office.

Michael Lancaster was the firm’s first finance partner to be based in Glasgow while its first associate hire was Catherine McDonald.