RPC LLP accounts show £3m loan amidst strong revenue growth

According to the firm’s LLP accounts, RPC achieved a turnover of £68.7m for 2011/12, a 12 per cent increase from the previous year. The distributable profit per equity partner was £354,000, up 9 per cent from £324,000 in 2010/11. The highest-paid partner took home £789,282, 30 per cent more than the highest amount paid to a partner in the previous year.

“We’ve seen growth across the board, and are particularly pleased to see our corporate, real estate and IP teams bucking the market trend in those areas to post considerable jumps in revenue,” said RPC managing partner Jonathan Watmough.

The accounts also revealed that the firm took a bank loan of £3m in 2011/12 that is repayable by equal monthly instalments until 2017 and secured on the partners’ interests. As a result, the firm’s net debt at 30 April 2012 was £2.3m, up 24 per cent from £1.7m at 1 May 2011.

In addition, the firm set up two subsidiary LLPs for investment purposes in November 2011, Blundell Park and Gladford Park. London-based partner Tim Anderson and senior partner Robert Hogarth are members of the two new LLPs.

During the financial year, RPC opened its first international office, in Singapore (27 October 2011). It also opened a Bristol base after hiring a team from CMS Cameron McKenna (3 January 2012). Shortly after the year-end, the firm opened in Hong Kong, strengthening its offering in the Far East region by taking on a large team of lawyers from legacy Barlow Lyde & Gilbert’s Hong Kong office (2 July 2012).