Shepherd and Wedderburn reports 7% turnover growth in the year to 30 April 2023

8 August 2023

Shepherd and Wedderburn reports 7% turnover growth in the year to 30 April 2023

The firm reported 7% turnover growth to £66.7 million in the year to 30 April 2023, the sixth year of consecutive growth. Net profits (before partner distributions) grew 3% to £27.1 million.

The firm also announced in July, in recognition of the firm’s performance, that colleagues would receive an exceptional bonus of 5% of their annual salary.

The firm saw strong revenue growth across all divisions. Core areas of growth have included clean energy; real estate, housebuilding and infrastructure; financial services and technology as well as from the expansion of the firm’s market-leading private wealth and rural teams following investment made in those areas in recent years.

In May, Shepherd and Wedderburn relocated its Edinburgh headquarters to the new Haymarket grade A office development, creating a premium, easily accessible space that promotes connectivity for both clients and colleagues. The move aligns with the firm's broader goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Other firm highlights include:

  • The promotion of seven Partners and ten Legal Directors, 76% of whom were female;
  • The recruitment of partners Peter Smith to lead the Aberdeen property team; Paul Young to the infrastructure team and Fraser Mitchell to the planning team;
  • Bolstering the rural team with the addition of six lawyers including accredited agricultural law specialists Petra Grunenberg, Partner, and Ellen Eunson, Legal Director;
  • The Banking and Finance team winning the Transaction Team of the Year at The Herald Law Awards of Scotland 2022 for the fifth consecutive year;
  • The Smarter Working team winning Support Team of the Year at the Scottish Legal Awards;
  • Being ranked 28th in a list of the UK’s top 75 employers published by the Social Mobility Foundation, rising twenty-two places from the previous year’s index; and
  • Being awarded, for another three years, the Platinum Employer Partner accreditation by STEP, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, attaining the highest of three accreditation levels awarded under STEP's Employer Partnership Programme.

Notable deals over the past 12 months include:

  • Advising Mangata Edge with concluding investment documentation for a significant manufacturing facility at Prestwick Aerospace Park part of Scottish Enterprise’s participation in the Ayrshire Growth Deal;
  • Advising Moray Offshore Windfarm (West) Limited in relation to various aspects of the £2 billion project financing of their 882MW offshore wind project;
  • Advising Crerar Hotel Group in connection with the sale of the company to Blantyre Capital and Fairtree Hotel Investments;
  • Advising Assured Guaranty on their wrap of a £210 million bond issue for Glasgow City Council;
  • Advising Taylor Wimpey on the landmark Greater Blindwells development which is estimated to deliver over 6,000 new homes together with employment opportunities, community facilities, and green space within a sustainable new town in East Lothian;
  • Advising IMPACT Scotland on the new concert hall in Edinburgh; and
  • Advising BAE on its award-winning multi-million pound Bishopton development, creating more than 4,000 residential units, one of the largest brownfield regeneration sites in Europe.

Andrew Blain, Managing Partner of Shepherd and Wedderburn, said: “I am pleased to announce another year of strong financial growth in what has been a constantly shifting and challenging environment.

By continuing with our planned programme of strategic investments, we have enhanced the strength and depth of key practice areas and further developed the technology solutions to help us to serve our clients better. As we look ahead to 2023/2024 and the final year of our three-year strategy, we are pleased to note that our approach has proven to be strong and resilient, with growth and continued progress towards our goals.

I am grateful to my colleagues for their consistent dedication to providing high-quality service across the firm. Additionally, I would like to thank our clients for their continued trust in us and we remain committed to providing exceptional support as we move forward together.”