Pinsents and SJB set for £200m turnover

At the half-year stage Pinsent Masons and SJ Berwin are both on course to break the £200m barrier by the end of the financial year.

Pinsent Masons performance for the first six months of its financial year saw turnover grow 10 per cent on the same period last year to hit the £100m mark for the first time since the firm was formed in 2004 with the merger between Pinsent Curtis Biddle and Masons.

Managing partner David Ryan said: “It’s the third year of double digit growth in a row, and now we’re about a year ahead of our merger plan.”

He added: “We had a record October and the corporate results are phenomenal. We’re doing a lot of transactions in the insurance sector and the corporate department is up 20 per cent.”

Ryan said that the firm had been affected by the recent turmoil in the credit markets but that it was too soon to tell whether that would affect results for the next six months.

SJ Berwin has reported a 22 per cent revenue increase for the first half of the financial year with turnover rising to £99m turnover for the first six months of 2007/2008.

SJ Berwin senior partner, Jonathan Blake, commented: “I don’t think we have been effected by the credit crunch in corporate and finance in the same way as the magic circle has. There was certainly a lull in September but things picked up quickly in October.”

Last year the firm’s target for the full 2006/2007 financial year was £174m with the firm reporting a final turnover of £189m. This year the firm aims to reach £200m.