Thorntons has credited pent-up demand in the residential property market, a major increase in Scottish tech deals and the backlog of court work caused by Covid restrictions, as key factors in its strongest-ever financial performance.
The firm, whose headcount now exceeds 550, published its annual results for the year to 31 May, which show turnover increasing to a record £31.2m; up 1.9% on the previous year.
Following a series of acquisitions and hires, Thorntons is now the fourth-largest independent legal firm in Scotland.
Headquartered in Dundee, the firm now has 13 offices ranging from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Montrose to St Andrews, Arbroath and Perth - a network which helped increase its share of the residential estate agency market last year to over 20% in Dundee, Angus and North East Fife.
Total properties sold exceeded 1,500, with combined sales value of £333m.
Managing partner Lesley Larg said: “Right across the board, from family and private client work to corporate deal flow - which totalled more than £250m in the last financial year - our increasing performance underlines the confidence clients have in our teams.”
She explained: “We certainly experienced a ‘spring bounce’ from the residential property market last year, which continued through the summer and into the autumn.
“That, combined with a backlog of court work, including family law and litigation, made a major contribution to how we performed in the last financial year.”
The firm advised on £105m worth of tech deals in the 12 months to last May, including the £42m fundraising round for agri-tech business IGS.
Larg commented: “Currently, opportunities within the tech sector in Scotland are absolutely burgeoning - there is major investor appetite for the right businesses and we are excited about the significant growth prospects in the years ahead.”
Thorntons chair Colin Graham also cited the “increasing breadth“ of the 160 year-old firm’s capabilities as a major factor in the 91% growth it has experienced since 2014.
“We are proud that we made no redundancies, despite the pressures of Covid and we emerged from the worst of the pandemic with every job intact, thanks in no small part to the furlough scheme,” he added.
“Indeed, the fact that we were able to bring people back so quickly after furlough has been hugely beneficial to the firm and has enabled us to create a further 75 new jobs in the past eight months.”
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