Scottish firm Gillespie MacAndrew to open office in Perth

This will be the firm’s second office in Scotland, after having a presence in Edinburgh since 1976.

The new office, which opens officially on 3 September, will initially house a team of four lawyers, led by land and rural business partner Alistair Anderson. He joined the firm in early 2011 from Scottish rival Wright Johnston & Mackenzie.

The decision to establish a presence in Perth was motivated by several factors, according to managing partner Ian Turnbull. “The Perth office will boost opportunities in our target client areas, land and rural business and private client, and we saw a gap in the market.”

Gillespie’s core sectors are property, private client and several commercial sectors, including land and rural business, high-net-worth clients, renewable energy and charities.

The firm posted a turnover of £9.8m in 2011-12. This is significant progress for the 22-partner strong firm, which has more than doubled in size over the last decade as a result of several small acquisitions in the Scottish market. This included acquiring specialist housebuilder firm Haig Scott & Co, which allowed Gillespie to establish a dedicated housebuilder team (9 July 2007). In 2004-05, the firm had only eight partners and posted a turnover of £3m.

The firm made several significant lateral hires last year, including hiring energy partner Hazel Tait from Scottish and Southern Energy in December 2011 to capitalise on the firm’s strengths in this area. Harry Smith, the former head of the builders unit at Scottish firm Morisons Solicitors, joined the firm to lead its housebuilder team in September 2011.