McGrigor Donald first Scots to break £20m turnover barrier

McGrigor Donald is believed to be the first Scottish firm to break through the £20m barrier for annual turnover.

Last week, for the first time in its history, the firm disclosed its annual turnover (to 30 April 1998) as £20.6m.

The figure, which is a rise of 10 per cent on last year's turnover of £18.7m, is contained in the firm's first annual review.

The figure is broken down into £12m for the Glasgow office, £4.75m for the Edinburgh office and £3.85m for the London office.

McGrigors managing partner Kirk Murdoch said: "Prior to this we have published an internal document to lawyers and staff with limited financial information.

"Although the review is a long way removed from company accounts it is a step in the right direction. It lets clients see that the firm is successful with their support and not at their cost."

He said Dundas & Wilson's decision to join Arthur Andersen meant there was now a distinct gap "between ourselves and Scotland's other independent firms in terms of turnover and size".

But he added that the firm was not yet prepared to reveal its profitability, although he said profits had improved.

A spokesman for Arthur Andersen said that the predicted combined fees of members of the UK network - Garretts, Dundas & Wilson and Dorman Jeffrey - for the year to September 1998 was about £50m.

Leading Scottish firms Maclay Murray & Spens and Shepherd & Wedderburn last year had an estimated turnover of about £12m each.