'Turning point' that helped to push Gordons into the big time

Today the firm is the most profitable in Yorkshire and among the most profitable in Britain, according to recent statistics. Turnover for the year ending April 2010 was 22m, up 1.5 per cent on the previous year, while average profit per equity partner was 702,000, up 46 per cent on 2009.

This week, Gordons is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the opening of its Leeds office, a decision described by its managing partner Paul Ayre as "a turning point".

"Opening the Leeds office was a big step. We thought about it for a long time," he said.

The firm has retained many of its clients from Aire Valley and still employs 120 people in Bradford, although its offices in Bingley and Keighley closed following the Leeds move.

It has maintained its private client team, a practice that some of Gordons' larger rivals decided to scale down over the last five years, said Mr Ayre.

The 45-year-old managing partner also highlighted the firm's contentious personal law team for disputed inheritance claims and its professional regulatory team among its "balanced product" offering.

Another big focus is the cost base. "We are not wasteful," said Mr Ayre. "We spent money refurbishing our office in Bradford but it is a low-cost place to do business."

The Leeds office is located along the further reaches of Riverside West. "If we were 200m (towards the station], we could be paying 26 per square foot. We pay a lot of money but it is way below that.

"We would not want a big atrium. We want the offices to be comfortable and smart, but we don't want them to be anything they don't need to be."

A lower cost base means it can charge less than its rivals. It also means more average profit per equity partner, of which there are 11.

According to the Legal Business 100, published last week, Gordons is the joint fourth most profitable law firm in Britain.

Mr Ayre said: "We are proud to be part of a successful organisation. We don't borrow money from the banks. Partners fund the business. While we have been expanding for a 10-year period, everything we do we have a good think about and we challenge the thinking."

He has spent 17 years at Gordons. Previously he worked at Simpson Curtis, under Nigel McLea, the outgoing head of Pinsent Masons in Leeds.

Mr Ayre said: "We have a very strong culture in our business. It is non-bureaucratic. It is non-hierarchical. I am still a fee-earner as are other key partners in the business. We expect people to be team workers.

"Law firms are not complicated, but they are much more complicated by the way they are run. We try to keep things extremely simple wherever possible. We try to see things from a clients' perspective."

One of its key long-standing clients is Morrisons, the Bradford-based supermarket giant. Others include The Card Factory, Molson Coors, Saint-Gobain, JCT 600, Gratton and Brulines.

Mr Ayre plans to grow Gordons' turnover over the coming years.

"We are able to do that by targeting clients of the Big Six firms. We think our offer is more relevant than theirs for UK work. They are great firms and I respect them, but we have the advantage of having a more simple business model, which I think we can reflect in cost and value."

He said Gordons wants to attract more commercial and operational work from large privately owned companies and small plcs in the North of England.

The firm employs around 250 people across its two offices. It plans to increase headcount at various levels over the coming months.

Challenges facing city

Leeds is a successful city with a mixed economy and a comparatively wealthy population, but it faces some challenges in keeping pace with Manchester, according to Paul Ayre.

Some people in Leeds talk about Manchester in the same way that people in Bradford used to talk about Leeds, he said.

"It has almost become a truism that Manchester has dynamic political leadership," Mr Ayre added. When regions are competing for fewer resources, he said Manchester seems to be more on the front foot.

The recent arrival of the Airbus 380 might have added to this perception, he said, although he added that the legal services sector in Leeds is ahead of Manchester's.