Burness Paull: £100 million milestone triggers 10% staff bonuses at legal firm
“We are grateful to our people and delighted to reward everything that has been achieved with the 10 per cent all-employee bonus” – Mark Ellis, managing partner
Scottish legal heavyweight Burness Paull has seen turnover top £100 million for the first time following double-digit growth.
The firm’s results for its financial year ended March 31 show that annual turnover was up 12 per cent to £105.2m while gross profit increased 27 per cent to £45.7m as it saw the benefit in year one of its 2025-2028 strategy.
On the back of the strong financial performance, the firm has shared its profits through an all-employee bonus that, on top of individual performance-related bonuses, has seen every employee receive an additional payment worth 10 per cent of their annual salary.
Managing partner Mark Ellis said: “Surpassing £100m turnover is a significant milestone. We are grateful to our people and delighted to reward everything that has been achieved with the 10 per cent all-employee bonus.
“Our clients - and the provision of the highest-quality advice and service - are the absolute focus of our new strategy. Any success we achieve is built on our clients’ success, and we are committed to excellence to best serve them.
“We are ambitious and have outstanding talent across our business. Our position as a leading independent firm in a dynamic market and a fast-changing world provides the platform for further growth and success.”
Chairman Peter Lawson added: “Cautious optimism in the M&A market and appetite from private equity led to our corporate team advising on large-scale, complex, multi-jurisdictional mandates where our expertise and market knowledge enable us to deliver significant value for clients. Market volatility also saw our restructuring and insolvency team in demand.
“Our strong financial performance is testament to our ambitious new strategy and commitment to clients, which supports our ambition to be the leading law firm operating in and from Scotland.”
Notable work highlights for the year included advising Wood Group on the Scottish aspects of its £216m acquisition by Dubai-based Sidara, Canadian-listed K-Bro Linen Systems on its £107m acquisition of Star Mayan, EIG Asset Management on the structuring of a £1 billion global fundraise for Fidra Energy’s battery energy storage business, and Petrofac on its major financial restructuring.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.