Freeths launches in Scotland with strategic senior hires

National law firm Freeths has announced expansion into Scotland, with two key appointments and the opening of a new office in Glasgow, its first base outside of England.

Freeths has launched in Scotland with the appointments of Partners Paul Ockrim and Nick Taylor who join from Addleshaw Goddard. They will open the new Glasgow office at Atlantic Quay, Robertson Street with plans to establish a full-service offering in the country.

This comes as the firm announced another year of outstanding growth, increasing revenues by 15% taking turnover to £129m, up 220% from £40.2m in 2014 all through organic growth.

National Managing Partner of Freeths Karl Jansen said: “As a firm, we have ambitious plans for further growth in the coming years. Scotland is an important part of the UK’s economy and therefore integral to our core strategy.“There is real opportunity for us to build our business in Scotland, delivering an innovative and progressive service for clients in the country. Aligned with our culture and values, both Paul and Nick bring a skill set that will add more breadth and depth to our national offering."

Paul specialises in all areas of commercial real estate and regularly advises developers, tenants, investors and funding institutions in retail, leisure, banking, investment and development deals. He acts for high profile clients on deals right through from inception to conclusion.

Nick has a focus on investment and development finance matters. Advising investors, developers and lenders, he has assisted clients on a wide variety of different real estate resource-based projects such as renewable energy developments.

The Glasgow site will be Freeths 13th office in the UK, with the entrepreneurial firm having a well-known reputation for establishing successful operations in their office locations.

This includes having built its London base from a team of two in 2013, led by Senior Partner Philippa Dempster, who won The Lawyer’s Hot 100 award for her development of the office, to a 100-strong multi-disciplinary team in 2023.

In just three years, Freeths’ Bristol office has also rapidly expanded from a team of two in April 2019 to a team of more than 50 lawyers as the office continues its recruitment drive in all legal service areas. In addition, the office’s revenue has increased by 51% over the last 12 months.

Paul Ockrim continued: “Nick and I have worked with Freeths over a number of years, so we know them well and share their values and ambitions, and the opportunity to join their exciting journey and open the new office in Scotland was too good to miss.”

Nick Taylor added: “Freeths has a fantastic track record of expanding into new markets, and the strength and depth of the national resource will provide a great platform for us and our clients as we look to recruit a full-service team of like-minded lawyers and build a compelling proposition.”