Two leading City firms have revealed bumper management pay rises after each enjoying profitable years.

Financial statements, covering the year to 30 April 2023 and published over the Christmas period, show that top earners at Eversheds Sutherland and Pinsent Masons each had their remuneration increased.

At Eversheds, the estimated entitlement of the highest paid member was almost £3.1m – up from £2.7m the previous year. The chief executive, managing partner and three other members of the executive committee shared a total of £9.9m – a yearly increase of 14%.

Average remuneration for each of the LLP’s 402 members was £648,000 – down slightly on the previous year when the firm had 381 members.

The firm had already announced that net profits across the board in the year had grown 17% to £175.2m, with revenue up by 8% to £730.9m.

Fellow top-20 firm Pinsent Masons increased remuneration to its highest-paid member by 66% to £3.1m. This followed a successful 2022/23 where the LLP reported pre-tax profits increased by 13% to £162.6m and turnover rose by 15% to £483m.

Senior partner Andrew Masraf said last summer that 2022/23 had been a ‘record year of revenue growth’ for the firm.

While some firms have increased senior executive pay, it is not a pattern that is repeated across the board, based on the annual reports for 2022/23 published so far.

The £3.56m profit attributable to MacFarlanes’ highest-paid member was actually a small decrease compared to the £3.78m paid the previous year.

In the year to 30 April 2023, magic circle firm Clifford Chance allocated £4.82m to its highest-paid member – a figure down from £4.94m the year before.

 

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