Gillespie Macandrew books profit rise
Scottish legal firm Gillespie Macandrew has increased its annual profits despite a fall in turnover resulting from the pandemic.
The firm said the initial lockdown of 2020 aligned almost exactly with the beginning of its financial year. Revenue for the year ending 28 February 2021 amounted to £13.5 million, down from £14.4m a year earlier.
Bossessaidbusinesshadbeen adversely affected in the initial few months of lockdown, particularly in relation to property and court-related work, where external factors meant that these markets failed to function normally. However, overall business levels for the second half of the financial year returned to pre-pandemic levels.
“Mitigating actions” taken duringtheinitialperiodoflockdown, coupled with the stronger trading environment experienced in the latter part of the year,resultedinprofitsof£3.9m before members’ remuneration, up from £3.5m.
Partners in Gillespie Macandrew,whichhasofficesinedinburgh, Glasgow and Perth, donate 1 per cent of their pretax profits to charity every year, with the total donated over the past five years standing at more than £130,000.
Chief executive Robert Graham-campbell said: “We have delivered another set of strong financial results despite challenging conditions across the sector and for our clients, especially in the initial few months of lockdown. I am immensely proud of our team and how quickly we adapted to homeworking while continuing to deliver high quality legal servicestoourclients.thedecisive mitigatingactionswetookearly in the year enabled us to maintain the firm’s resources.”