Aberdeen business driving lawyers Bond Dickinson as profits soar

Commercial lawyers Bond Dickinson have announced seven per cent growth for the business, buoyed by continuing activity for its Aberdeen office.

The firm’s latest results show revenues of £106.4m for the 2014-15 financial year, up from £99.6m last year, representing seven per cent growth, while profits were also up by around 20 per cent.

The figures cap a strong year for the firm, which has seen high profile panel wins and retentions in the past 12 months including Sainsbury’s, AIG UK, and the Crown Estate.

The firm said its Aberdeen office is a key component in its success and in spite of the slump in oil price, which has had a major impact on the industry, it continues to thrive.

Lawyers from the firm’s Aberdeen office have advised on numerous high profile transactions during the year including the sale of Summit Petroleum Limited and its subsidiary companies to Aberdeen-based Ithaca Energy for $170 million on behalf of the Sumitomo Corporation and the divestment of LAPS (E&P) Limited to Hansa Hydrocarbons Limited by Noble Energy Inc.

Further projects include the decommissioning by Endeavour Energy UK Limited of the Renee, Rubie, Ivanhoe, Rob Roy and Hamish fields in the North Sea, the disposal by Tullow Oil of its interests in the Schooner and Ketch Fields in the North Sea to Aberdeen-based Faroe Petroleum and the purchase of Central North Sea Fibre Telecommunications Company Limited and related assets from BP by Tampnet AS.

Richard Cockburn, Partner at Bond Dickinson said: “It’s been another busy year for Bond Dickinson in Aberdeen, notwithstanding the lower oil price. We’re seeing a change in the nature of the oil and gas work that we’re doing – more decommissioning, more disputes, more contract reviews, more focussed M&A transactions – but the volume of work remains very healthy. The fact that we act for a range of players in the oil and gas marketplace, ranging from supermajors to independents and a spectrum of contractors, nationally and internationally, allows us to see that sentiment is certainly cautious but that strategically important transactions are still happening. On the real estate side, we are getting a steady flow of local instructions whilst providing support for the firm’s extensive portfolio of clients nationwide and the corporate department continues to thrive with a string of important deals to its name this year”.

“We will continue to invest and grow in the Aberdeen while increasingly attracting high profile clients who we are well-positioned to service as a truly national firm. We are confident that the next year will see us continue to grow by focusing on what matters most to our clients and providing in-depth expertise and outstanding service.”

Last year’s figures propelled Bond Dickinson into 37th place in the UK’s top law firms by turnover.

It also saw success in the legal directories with rankings in 77 sections across the 2015 UK Chambers guide, including eight “National Leader” rankings, placing it in joint top position of all firms featured in Chambers.

The firm has just been ranked 17th in the Acritas UK Law Firm Brand Index 2015, up from 20th last year.

The Acritas Brand Index is based on interviews with senior corporate counsel and covers a combination of factors from awareness to favourability and consideration for major M&A and litigation.