Belfast commercial law firm Tughans has been recognised by Experian as the “most active law firm” in Northern Ireland, the firm has said.

Tughans topped the Experian Deal Review and Advisor League Tables 2015after advising on 37 Experian credited deals in 2015, ten more than the firm in second position and almost 25 per cent of all the transactions recorded.

The Experian report showed that the number of big business deals increased by more than 50 per cent last year, with 165 transactions in 2015 compared to 104 in 2014. The value of transactions recorded rose from around £1.72 billion in 2014 to £1.88 billion.

Patrick Brown, managing partner at Tughans, said: “Despite a challenging 12 months for Tughans we have been the most active law firm, advising on the highest number of significant deals of any firm in Northern Ireland.

“That is testament to the quality of our lawyers and ambition of our clients both locally and internationally, and with the continued recovery in the Northern Ireland economy 2016 is also looking positive.

“We are working on a number of major transactions due to complete in the first quarter of 2016, and with a strong pipeline of instructions we are looking forward to another year of growth.”

The firm’s most significant deals in 2015 included Totalmobile Holdings Limited, Sawyers Transport Group, Lough Erne Resort, Lisnagelvin Retail Park, the Showgrounds Retail Park in Omagh and the south-east Belfast scheme occupied by Homebase.

It has also been involved in a multi-million pound acquisition in the UK motor retail sector; Manchester-headquartered Lookers plc, one of the UK’s principal automotive retail and distribution groups, acquired Benfield Motor Group in Newcastle for £87.5 million.