highlights of the year
There are three outstanding features of our advance in the last year.
The first is simply the scale of our performance. In line with our consistent growth, our revenue again increased - by 17% last year to more than £12m. This is 35% beyond the 2006 revenue goal we set in our 2003 - 06 Strategy. In fact, this year we have outperformed all of our operational targets.
Second, the pace of our growth has not affected the philosophy we developed four years ago - our determination to be a place of opportunity for our staff. The youth of our Partners means we are unique among our competitors in our investment for the future. We have greater scope than others to respond to the ambition within our ranks. We have made some senior appointments from larger firms - people who fit our culture and provide that vital experience we need because we're growing so quickly. But we never risk fogging the career horizons of our junior people.
Third, in spite of the way our rapid growth has stretched us and our resources, none of our clients has suffered any of our own growing strains. Our 30 top clients in December 2003 are all still our clients today, with the exception of one. We're no leaking bucket. Nor have we permitted fast growth to dilute the values, which are important to us. The 2007 Scottish Legal Award for Corporate Social Responsibility, for example, is especially treasured because, ironically, we have never had a formal CSR policy: the principles have always been enshrined, as a matter of course, in our everyday policy and practice. In short, the impressive achievements of the last three years have laid an extraordinarily strong foundation for the Strategy we have now agreed to 2009.
The next three years
Our analysis is that, in Scotland, competition and consolidation will intensify with downward pressure on fee rates. In England, we expect the post-Clementi deregulated market to become more fragmented, regionalised and commoditised. The emphasis everywhere will be on improved cost-effectiveness. This represents a significant opportunity for Harper Macleod. These pressures will heighten client interest in our proven ability to deliver competitively-priced, fixed-fee services. Martin Darroch's promotion from Finance Director (he won the 2007 Young FD of the Year Award) to Chief Executive signals our bold response to these new strategic demands as we seek to achieve our ambitious objectives primarily through rapid organic growth. This means effective resource management and an unambiguous commitment to our core values.
We are clear about how we want to be seen after the next three years: as the place that's different and positive - incontestably the destination of choice for able lawyers and discerning clients alike.
Professor Lorne D Crerar, Chairman
