Farrer & Co

UK 200 RESULTS 2010

Position:
Movement since 2009

Turnover (£M):
Profit per equity partner (£K):
Earnings per partner (£K):
Equity spread (£K):
Net profit (£M):
Profit margin (%):
Revenue per fee-earner (£K):
Revenue per lawyer (£K):
Revenue per partner (£K):
Revenue per equity partner (£K):
Total number of fee-earners:
Total number of qualified lawyers:
Total number of partners:
Total number of equity partners:
Total number of female partners:
Total number of female equity partners:
Total number of staff:
Leverage ratio (fee-earners per equity partner):

=63
UP

42.6
442
258.31
200-565
10.1
24
241.5
291.0
643.5
1,972.2
176
146
66
22
15
2
338
5.78

Farrer & Co’s turnover rose by 5.1 per cent, from £40.5m to £42.6m, in 2009-10, partly because there were simply more people fee earning. Revenue per lawyer actually decreased from £305,000 to £291,000.

Unlike many other firms in the UK 200, Farrers made no redundancies at all in the recession. Average profit per equity partner decreased from £462,000 to £442,000.

The year saw a slight rejig of the capital structure thanks to a number of arrivals and departures, and the firm took advantage of the buyers’ market to make several partner hires, of whom five joined the equity – although the total number of partners actually decreased from 100 to 96. The eight- to 20-point equity spread also shifted slightly, from £212,000-£560,000 to £200,000-£565,000.

Litigation (including employment) performed best, with billings of £13.2m, representing a revenue per partner (RPP) of £776,000.

The flagship private client and charities practice had an income of £10.65m, but had a patchy year thanks to a fall-off in onshore private client work compared with the spike of 2008-09.

Corporate grossed £8m and property £7.7m. Average RPP across the firm stood at £644,000, which is on an upward trend from £633,000 in 2008-09 and £595,000 in 2007-08.

UK 200 RESULTS 2009

Position:
Movement since 2008

Turnover (£M):
Profit per equity partner (£K):
Earnings per partner (£K):
Equity spread (£K):
Net profit (£M):
Profit margin (%):
Revenue per fee-earner (£K):
Revenue per lawyer (£K):
Revenue per partner (£K):
Revenue per equity partner (£K):
Total number of fee-earners:
Total number of qualified lawyers:
Total number of partners:
Total number of equity partners:
Total number of female partners:
Total number of female equity partners:
Total number of staff:
Leverage ratio (fee-earners per equity partner):

67
UP

40.5
462
260.9
212 - 560
9.7
24
244
305
633
1,929
166
133
64
21
15
2
296
5.33

Private client work dominates the practice mix at Farrer & Co, the firm of choice for the Royal Family.

Indeed, during the 2008-09 financial year it hit the headlines for providing a Christmas vacation scheme to Prince Harry’s girlfriend Chelsy Davy.

The firm counts News International as a key client and acted for the News of the World on its high-profile battle with Max Mosley, the Formula 1 chief who won a lawsuit against the paper for breach of privacy.

However, with private client a central plank, the firm pushed turnover up by 9.1 per cent last year to break through the £40m barrier, reporting £40.5m at the 2008-09 year-end.

Revenue per partner also climbed up by 6.4 per cent, from £595,000 to £633,000.

Average profit per equity partner (PEP) dropped slightly from £469,000 to £462,000. Compare that with the 2007-08 year-end when PEP climbed a whopping 34 per cent from £350,000.

Farrers continued to expand its equity base, adding two to the partnership to bring it to 21, the largest number in five years.

All this has helped to underline a swelling net profit figure, which stood at £9.7m at the year-end, an increase of 8.9 per cent from £8.9m the year before.