Change of managing partner at Scottish legal firm Thorntons

Legal firm Thorntons has unveiled a change at the top after recording solid growth in the past financial year.

Craig Nicol, outgoing managing partner at Scottish legal firm Thorntons, which employs more than 500 people in 11 locations across the country. Picture: Dundee Industrial and Commercial Photography Scotland

The 58-partner firm saw turnover rise 2.6 per cent to £30.5 million in the year to 31 May 2020, with profits increasing by 12 per cent.The financial results represent the first full year since the firm acquired the Edinburgh operation of Morisons LLP.Dundee-headquartered Thorntons is now one of the largest full-service firms in Scotland, employing more than 500 people in 11 locations across the country.Bosses said that while the final months of trading had been impacted by the pandemic, the practice remained on a “firm financial footing” as a result of its five-year strategic plan, which has seen it grow through a series of strategic mergers and acquisitions.Meanwhile, managing partner Craig Nicol has announced that he will stand down at the end of May after ten years in the post, seven of those years as joint managing partner with Scott Milne. He will be replaced by partner Lesley Larg, an intellectual property specialist who has sat on the firm’s board for several years.Nicol said: “The business continued to grow and turnover and profitability increased as we entered the last year of our 2015-2020 strategic plan. Our increased commercial offering in Edinburgh and in Glasgow played a significant role and our new colleagues who arrived following the Morisons acquisition settled in well.“Like many businesses, our trading for the last months of the financial year were hit by the onset of Covid-19. Many of our markets were significantly impaired and, in the case of the residential property market, closed completely. Court closures meant significant challenges in our dispute resolution teams.“These financial results represent our continued commitment to invest for the long term and our clear strategy for growth across our business.“Whilst currently we are still lagging behind last year’s performance, we have recovered well and we are now looking forward to planning for our next five year strategic period.”He added: “It was always my intention to step aside as managing partner in the next couple of years and there is no doubt that the time is right. We are now considering our next five year strategic plan.”

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