Maclay Murray & Spens is raising the stakes among Scottish firms in London after securing the takeover of niche City practice Fenners.
The Lawyer can reveal that the Scottish firm will merge Fenners’ practice into its existing London office by June in an attempt to bolster further its corporate and commercial property practices.
Until late last year, Maclay’s London base had consisted of just eight partners, despite being launched more than 10 years ago. Since then, Maclay has been aggressively recruiting, bringing on board Allen & Overy property partner Nick Bird and KLegal’s former London head of employment Stephen Levinson. Last week, the former head of Boodle Hatfield’s corporate department Jonathan Brooks joined the firm.
The Fenners tie-up means that the number of partners will grow to 13, with the addition of John Fenner, senior partner at the firm and his son Robert Fenner, who is a corporate specialist.
The three remaining partners at Fenners, including Adam Fenner, also a son of John Fenner, will join Maclay as senior associates.
However, John Fenner said there was “every opportunity” for people to become a partner at Maclay, which has both salaried and equity partners.
Last year, Maclay reported revenues of around £33m, 15 per cent of which was derived from the London office.
Commenting on the move, Maclay chief executive Magnus Swanson said that while there was some crossover on one or two clients, the link-up was a good fit for both firms.
