By Scott Reid

Copyright scotsman

Tayside legal heavyweight Thorntons has announced an acquisition that will strengthen the services it provides around Aberdeen. The deal, billed as a merger, sees Aberdeen-based Patience and Buchan’s two partners, Lorna Buchan and Ashley Simpson, and four employees transfer to Thorntons. The merged entity will adopt the Thorntons branding on October 1. The deal creates the firm’s first permanent office in Aberdeen, after years of supporting clients in north-east Scotland. Bosses said it marked an important step in Thorntons’ ongoing growth strategy, which is focused on building a “scalable and sustainable business that meets the needs and ambitions of its clients and people”. Thorntons, which can trace its roots back to 1857, has offices in Inverness, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Perth, supporting some 300,000 businesses and individuals across the UK and globally with a full-service capability. When Patience and Buchan joins with Thorntons, the firm’s total number of employees will rise to more than 580, and a partnership of 79. Lesley Larg, managing partner at Thorntons, said: “Aberdeen has been an area of interest to us for a considerable amount of time, but it was essential that we found the right people to partner with before entering the marketplace. “With its focus on providing high-quality, personal services, Patience and Buchan really stood out for us, and its growth ambitions perfectly complement our own commercial outlook. Joining with its team will create an outstanding base to build our full-service offering in Aberdeen and enhance legal services locally. “We look forward to forging longstanding relationships in the Aberdeen community and welcoming our new colleagues to the business. Importantly, Patience and Buchan’s clients will continue to receive the outstanding service which brought us together with the firm’s brilliant team.” Buchan said: “Thorntons is one of Scotland’s most respected and successful independent law firms in Scotland with a first-class family law team. “We thought long and hard about our future with the firm. Over the course of many conversations, we realised we had found a partner that shared our culture and ambitions, and which would value our people and clients in the same way we do.”