Burness awards staff bonus for bumper year

Scottish firm Burness has marked its impressive financial performance for the 2006-07 financial year with a 10 per cent bonus payable to all staff.

Burness chairman Philip Rodney said the bonus was intended to be a recognition of the firm's motivated and highly skilled team.

The firm's year ended on 31 July and finalised results showed turnover was up by 24 per cent to £22.5m, while average profit per equity partner (PEP) was up by 29 per cent to £361,000. Net profit stood at £9.4m, a margin of 42 per cent.

The PEP result in particular is impressive in a year that saw Burness invest heavily in new lawyers and double the size of its Glasgow office in its move to the Aurora building. The increase means Burness now has the second-highest average profit of any firm in Scotland, behind private equity boutique Dickson Minto.

In a dig at Scotland's big four, Rodney said the firm's success came from its clear focus on the Scottish market, "without the distraction of seeking to enter the lower end of the London market".

Burness's five core areas of business are banking, corporate finance, real estate, commercial litigation and employment.