PEP and turnover: the highs and the lows

Far and away the most dramatic rise in this year's financials round has been the average profit per equity partner (PEP) hike seen at Salans.

This more than doubled from £419,000 a year ago to £870,000 – a rise of some 107.6 per cent. Not bad going in the midst of the credit crunch. Other successes include Birmingham-based Martineau Johnson, which boosted PEP by 47.7 per cent from £176,000 to £260,000; CMS Cameron McKenna, where PEP leapt 30.5 per cent from £502,000 to £655,000; and Field Fisher Waterhouse, where it jumped 28.9 per cent from £582,000 to £750,000.

Meanwhile, magic circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer saw PEP jump 39.7 per cent from £1.03m to £1.44m.

Forsters, by contrast, saw a drop in PEP of 19.1 per cent, from £550,000 12 months ago to £445,000 this year. The firm is one of just two firms to have experienced a fall in PEP so far. Speechly Bircham, where PEP dropped 0.2 per cent from £526,000 to £525,000, is the other.

Salans is also one of this year’s fastest movers so far on turnover, which jumped 27.7 per cent from £112m to £143m. Not as impressive a rise for the firm as its PEP figure, but the second biggest seen so far.

Field Fisher Waterhouse is the fastest mover to date, boosting turnover 30 per cent from £67.7m to £88m.