More firms celebrate record partner profits

Partner profits at Travers Smith have surged by over 20%, following investment in asset management, M&A and dispute resolution.

According to provisional figures for the year ended 30 June 2021, profit per full equity partner rose by 21.5% to £1.22m, while turnover is up 15.4% at £185.7m.

Managing partner Edmund Reed said staff have been ‘amazing’ through an ‘extraordinarily difficult’ period. ‘Key to our performance has been our continued investment in our business, including building across our core areas of asset management, M&A and dispute resolution & investigations,’ he said.

‘This has enabled us to attract a number of significant instructions from clients, which have kept our teams busy. The next 12 months will no doubt present new challenges, but we go into our new financial year in very good shape, confident in our model, and with a healthy pipeline of work.’

Travers Smith did not access the government's job retention scheme and kept all members of staff on full pay throughout lockdown.

Elsewhere in the City, disputes specialist HFW has reported a 26% rise in net profit to £59.7m, while profit per equity partner has grown by 30% to £683,000. The firm's profit margin climbed more than 5 percentage points to 30% and global revenue crept up by 2.6% to £200.2m.

HFW attributed its growth to its ongoing global expansion and high client demand for sector expertise in aerospace, commodities, construction, energy and resources, insurance, and shipping.

Global senior partner Richard Crump said: ‘HFW has changed beyond all recognition over the past decade, and we have ambitious plans to not only continue but ramp up our growth. We are actively targeting opportunities across our industry groups, legal services and international network, to ensure that we are continuing to meet the changing needs of our clients in a dynamic and challenging market.’

HFW has completed 11 international office openings, mergers and associations since 2016, and around 60% of its revenue is now generated outside the UK. Its American offices saw particularly strong revenue growth during lockdown, up 360% year-on-year.