Berwin Leighton Paisner’s (BLP) star head of real estate Robert MacGregor is probably best known for being the best-paid partner in the City, earning a headline-grabbing £1.3m. He managed to negotiate the eye-popping income when he defected from Clifford Chance to BLP in October 2004. It proved to be a fine investment, as just months later MacGregor secured two key instructions from trophy client Canary Wharf.

He also helped BLP land one of the most coveted real estate instructions of 2005, advising the Wood Wharf Partnership on its £2bn Docklands regeneration project. BLP beat the likes of Lawrence Graham and SJ Berwin in a competitive tender for the regeneration of the 20-acre site next to Canary Wharf, while Clifford Chance was left out of the tender process altogether.

That MacGregor is worth his hefty salary was confirmed when BLP reported some of the best financial results for a real estate group in the City in 2004-05, posting a 17 per cent rise in turnover to £42.3m.