Brodies

UK 200 RESULTS 2010

Scottish firm Brodies had another muted year after its eight-year run of double-digit turnover growth came to an end in 2008-09. For the 2009-10 year the firm recorded a turnover of £35.8m, a drop of 8 per cent on £39.09m the previous year. The firm’s profit margin fell by three percentage points, from 28 to 25 per cent, while average profit per equity partner fell by 3 per cent, from £333,000 to £323,000.

During the year the firm’s average equity partner count fell from 33.4 to 27.4 through a mixture of retirements and de-equitisations. The remaining equity partners, who are remunerated by a mixture of lockstep (80 per cent) and bonus pool (20 per cent), shared a total of £8.85m. Those at the bottom of the equity received £190,000 and those at the top took home £430,000. The firm’s 34.9 non-equity partners were paid an average of £110,000.

The firm’s litigation practice remains the biggest revenue generator, accounting for 34 per cent of the total last year. Property is the second-largest group in revenue terms, although at 26 per cent of the total it is proportionally marginally smaller than in the previous year.

The firm took an aggressive stance towards costs and bill collection, maintaining its profit margin without the need for major job losses. While its average accrued income figure remained unchanged at 72 days year-on-year, it knocked six days off its average debtor days figure, which fell from 61 to 55.

The firm made only one lateral hire in 2009-10 in corporate partner Will McIntosh, who joined from Lindsays.

UK 200 RESULTS 2009

Scottish firm Brodies managed a small rise in turnover in the 2008-09 financial year, although its stellar eight-year run of double-digit growth was brought to an end.

Turnover at the year-end stood at £39m, a 5 per cent rise on the £37m recorded a year previously. While this is a much slower rate of growth than the firm has become accustomed to, it represents a rise of 135 per cent on the £16.6m posted at the end of the 2003-04 year.

Net profit fell from £12.5m last year to £11.1m at the 2008-09 year-end, while average profit per equity partner (PEP) fell by 18 per cent to £333,000, the same figure posted in the 2006-07 year. As a result of the fall the profit margin dropped from 34 to 28 per cent.

In terms of remuneration, the equity spread ran from £200,000 to £420,000, down from £230,000 to £500,000 last year. Partners' profit share is based mainly on a five-year lockstep, with the remaining 20 per cent coming from a performance-related pool. Partners enter the lockstep on 60 points and gain eight points a year until reaching a plateau of 100.

Salaried partners are remunerated on a fixed-share basis with each share calculated individually. At the 2008-09 year-end the firm had 27.8 full-time equivalent salaried partners, who earned on average around £118,000.

In terms of practice areas, the firm's traditional real estate focus shifted marginally over the year, with litigation providing a slightly greater share of revenue at 30 per cent. Real estate accounted for 28 per cent, corporate 15 per cent, employment 14 per cent, private client 7 per cent and finance 6 per cent.

During the year the firm bulked up its insurance litigation capabilities by hiring a team from DLA Piper. Partners Toby Seton, who had been head of DLA Piper's Scottish insurance and reparations practice, and Cameron McNaught joined along with a team of eight associates.

The firm made seven people redundant during the year.