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Dundas & Wilson concludes redundancy talks with up to 30 jobs axed

2 April 2012 | By Sam Chadderton

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Almost 30 jobs are being cut at Scotland-headquartered firm Dundas & Wilson following a consultation process.

In February the firm confirmed that due to the “nature and level of demand for its services” it would be considering redundancies (24 February 2012).

While the firms mooted cutting staff and partner positions, chairman David Hardie confirmed the cuts only relate to staff at the moment.

He said: “We’re going through a process which must be seen in the context of a wider reshaping of our business and what we’re doing.

“We’ve opened the Aberdeen office, brought in a team form Stephenson Harwood on the banking side and in parts of the business we have too many heads.

“Combine that with a difficult market and people tend to stay rather than leave and we end up with too many lawyers in too many areas because of a lack of natural wastage.”

Hardie said the positions being cut are spread across the firm’s offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London and that discussions about when people leave are “bespoke” to each individual.

He added that partners’ performance is reviewed each year in a separate process.

The firm is currently being managed on an interim basis by head of performance and resources Caryn Penley, who also leads the firm’s debt, recovery and restructuring practice, and head of operational excellence Allan Wernham, who also heads the firm’s real estate team. The interim team was put in place in response to managing partner Donald Shaw stepping down part-way through his term (8 March 2012).

A new managing partner is expected to be in place by September.

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Readers' comments (21)

  • Magnus Hardingham | 3-Apr-2012 5:43 pm

    'Then you clearly aren't much of an expert on the South West Kent / North East Sussex legal market (excluding Tunbridge Wells)'

    LOL-this should be a special subject on Mastermind.

    The next contestant could then specialise in:

    'The increasing marginilisation of vole habitats in North-Western Lincolnshire' or something similar.

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  • Fred Glib | 3-Apr-2012 6:08 pm

    @Hardingham. You're right, I can't claim to be an expert on the 'North East Sussex market'. But, er, is anyone?

    And what on EARTH is the relevance of that micro-slice of the regional legal market to Dundas & Wilson?

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  • Anonymous | 3-Apr-2012 8:42 pm

    Have just read the comment from David Hardie in tonight's newspaper " It is not that we have taken out 30 people and shot them" absolutely disgusting insult to your staff who served you well. Time to step down too David. I'd like to see how your PR dept deal with the backlash tomorrow. I hope the new management team invest in their people and not splash the cash on new wallpaper & designer chairs. I doubt it.

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  • Magnus Hardingham | 4-Apr-2012 0:31 am

    The kicker in the previous comment was 'excluding Tunbridge Wells'.
    Twas as if uttered by the great Mr. Alan Partridge himself.

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  • Field of Fibs | 4-Apr-2012 0:47 am

    A search for Field Grieb leads straight back to The Lawyer.
    Witness these comments on a previous article.
    I could not agree more with the last one.
    Anonymous | 10-Nov-2011 5:13 pm
    It is a shame these things always happen behind closed doors. Mr Mayhew would have been a first class addition to the Green Team of Field Grieb Litigators but the big boys bagged him first. Next time. Watch out City!!!!!!!!

    Anonymous | 10-Nov-2011 5:52 pm
    I'm afraid it is well known in City circles that the "prankster" who keeps posting hilarious messages about the fictional Kent law firm Field Grieb is the sole proprietor of a joke that is not that funny!

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  • Glen Hoddle | 4-Apr-2012 9:23 am

    In the circumstances, Hardie's "take out and shot comment" is nothing short of outrageous.

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  • Anonymous | 4-Apr-2012 11:56 am

    Timber!

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  • gargantuan | 10-Apr-2012 9:40 am

    I spent some time working at this firm a number of years ago and found the management to be completely out of touch. There was a clear "them and us" culture in the partnership and on one occasion Hardie even told a gathering of fee earners that they were all "expendable". Totally outdated people management skills with little regard for the fee earning staff, and it looks likes little has changed.

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  • Anonymous | 10-Apr-2012 7:51 pm

    I hear David Hardie has been forced to leave a voicemail apologising to current staff for his "its not that we have taken out 30 people and shot them" comment. Is this correct? Bet he hasn't contacted any of the dismissed staff to apologise. Although no doubt he will eventually be forced to if the outcry continues. Unless they are all hiding from the man with the big gun.

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  • Anonymous | 12-Apr-2012 4:33 pm

    Astonishing comment. If he were one of my partners I would take HIM outside and shoot him. He doesn't think making 30 people redundant was that big a deal, yet these are real people with real mortgages to pay. Business is business but he should have some compassion. Like some other long standing partners in relatively profitable firms who have done rather well over the years, he unfortunately appears to have lost his grip on reality.

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