Chairman Peter Duff opened the conference and welcomed almost 200 staff members from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee to the Apex Hotel where he hailed the significant impact joint managing partners, Emma Gray and Ryan McKay, had made in their first 10 months at the helm.

He said: “Our new management has a new energy, a new drive and a new direction. That’s something that’s going to be the focus of our conference – positive change.”

Emma and Ryan then took the team through the strategy for the years ahead.

As well as outlining ambitious plans for growing turnover and increasing profits, they revealed new staff benefits including free private medical health insurance for all staff, a health cash plan and an improved pension process. This is part of Blackadders’ strategy for being an employer of choice in the Scottish legal market.

The conference also welcomed motivational speaker Simon McCrum, a consultant on the management, development and growth of lawyers, legal teams and law firms across the UK.

Ms Gray said: “It was fantastic to have the whole team together in one place and to be able to talk about our plans and outline how we plan to take the firm forward in the coming years.

“It was also good to have the chance to meet and chat with everyone - there was a real buzz in the room.

“Simon was an inspiration and gave us all something to think about as we develop Blackadders together.”

Mr McKay added: “This is the first time we have brought everyone together in a business setting, so it was important to give everyone a clear picture of where we are heading.
“There are exciting times ahead and we are really looking forward to telling staff, clients and the wider market more about it in the months to come.”