Addleshaws breaks £400K PEP ceiling

Addleshaw Goddard's profit per equity partner (PEP) has smashed the psychological £400,000 barrier for the first time.

The national firm reported a whopping 25 per cent rise in PEP, from £321,000 to £404,000, with partners at the top and bottom of equity taking home between £585,000 and £180,000.

Meanwhile, Addleshaws' turnover for the 2004-05 financial year increased by 12 per cent, from £125.2m to £139.7m. The firm's finance and projects practice recorded the biggest hike in fee income, rising by 27 per cent to £26.5m. In contrast, Addleshaws' corporate department reported a more modest increase in turnover, jumping by 6 per cent to £26m.

Managing partner Mark Jones told The Lawyer that the increase in profitability is down to the synergies resulting from the merger between legacy firms Addleshaw Booth & Co and Theodore Goddard two years ago. "The merger costs depressed our 2003-04 results," added Jones.

Addleshaws' full-year results come at time when a growing number of firms, including Olswang and Nabarro Nathanson, are now inhabiting the £400,000-plus PEP band.