Commercial property specialist joins solicitors’ growing Glasgow office

Blackadders has continued its expansion in the west of Scotland by recruiting an experienced commercial property adviser to its Glasgow base.

John McKie, who joins Blackadders as a partner today, is the latest addition to the firm’s presence in Scotland’s largest city.

Mr McKie was previously a senior associate in DWF’s commercial property team in Edinburgh, having been with the firm (formerly called Biggart Baillie) since 2006.

Dual-qualified as a solicitor in Scotland and England/Wales, Mr McKie has significant experience in advising on all real estate matters, in particular investment acquisitions, secured lending, freehold and leasehold sales and acquisitions as well as commercial leasing.

With the arrival of Mr McKie, Blackadders now has 27 partners and over 260 staff across the country.

The firm acquired Glasgow law practice Boyle Shaughnessy in April 2016, in addition to opening offices in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Perth. In September 2016 it appointed Stephanie Carr, an accredited specialist in insolvency law, to lead its Glasgow office.

Its steady growth secured the firm the “Best Newcomer Award” at the 2016 Scottish Business Insider Awards as well as catapulting it to number 142 in the latest SME300 listings.

Mr McKie said the prospect of joining such an ambitious Scottish law practice was too good to miss.

“Blackadders has established itself as a very forward-thinking firm and being offered the chance to play a part in helping it to grow in Glasgow and the west really was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.

“With Glasgow being one of the prime retail destinations in the UK there are some fantastic opportunities for us to play a part in the city’s continued success as a shopping and leisure hotspot.”

Emma Gray, head of commercial property said: “I have known John for a number of years; he is an accomplished commercial property lawyer with a wealth of experience and legal acumen. He will be an asset to the team and I look forward to working with him.

“His appointment will enable us to further build our strength in commercial property and reflects the increase in demand that we are seeing for our services on the west coast. We are working our way through an ambitious, long-term strategy for our firm and our ability to attract lawyers of John’s quality is a vital to its success.”