Gateleys-HBJ tie-up pays off as PEP jumps by 40 per cent

Average profit per equity partner (PEP) at HBJ Gateley Wareing has rocketed by 40 per cent in the year the firm sealed its Anglo-Scottish merger.

Partners are toasting a PEP of £280,000, up by 40 per cent from the £200,000 recorded at the pre-merger Gateleys.

Managing partner for England Peter Davies said: "The growth has been due to increased turnover in a number of groups, in particular our corporate transaction and property teams."

The figures are the first financials recorded for the Birmingham-based firm, which resulted from the merger of Midlands firm Gateley Wareing and Scottish firm Henderson Boyd Jackson (HBJ) in January this year.

Turnover at the merged firm was £31.5m, a healthy 14 per cent increase on the pre-merger total of £27.6m (£10.5m at HBJ and £17.1m at Gateleys), and 9 per cent higher than the £29m predicted at the time of the merger.

Davies attributed the high profit to increased turnover and acknowledged that the profit margin of 37 per cent is "the highest I can remember".

He added that the first-quarter income of the current financial year is up by 17 per cent on the same period last year and predicted continued growth for 2006-07.