The first top 20 UK firm to announce its 2014/15 financial performance, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has posted a 6% rise in turnover to £259m as its profit per equity partner (PEP) jumps 22% to £659,000.
Between financial years 2013/14 and 2014/15, revenue has grown by £13m from £246m to £259m but PEP jumped by £117,000 from £542,000 to £659,000 as the firm improved its profitability. In addition, the firm said it had paid off the £27m in debt it had at the end of the last financial year and now had positive cash balances of £12m.
The buoyant results, which largely stem from standout performances by the firm’s real estate, commercial dispute resolution and finance groups, come on the back of a 6% rise in revenue and even higher 35% jump in PEP during the 2013/14 financial year. BLP also reported that its corporate finance team benefitted from strong deal activity.
Standout mandates for the firm last financial year include advising the London Legacy Development Corporation on the transformation of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park into a huge residential area and Haversham Holdings on its £1.2bn takeover of British Car Auction. BLP made five lateral hires in the last financial year, including the recruitment of Bob Charlton to head its Asia practice after holding a similar role at DLA Piper.
Lisa Mayhew (pictured), who took over from Neville Eisenberg as BLP’s managing partner in May, said: ‘Growth in Real Estate and Infrastructure sector work, our contentious businesses and transactional work are the bedrocks to this success, but overall our great financial performance is the result of ensuring that our clients are at the heart of everything we do.’
Mayhew added: ‘We continue to listen to our clients so that we remain focused on providing a high quality service leveraging off our abilities to work differently using our Manchester office and other enterprise businesses to meet our clients’ needs now and in the future.’
Earlier this year, BLP spin-off Lawyers On Demand welcomed a 42% jump in revenue to £12m, with its recently launched On Call service for remote transactional work boosting the coffers.
tom.moore@legalease.co.uk
