Eversheds continued to pursue its steady UK growth strategy with limited success. Turnover was up a reasonable 9.3 per cent to £323.8m, but average PEP rose by only 6 per cent to £350,000. The firm now lies in a strange hinterland, left behind by former rival turned global giant DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, while in far better shape than another rival, Hammonds.

Eversheds, for its part, has its own problems. Addleshaw Goddard is emerging as a national competitor with more financial clout and a City profile, while in each of its regions Eversheds has focused competitors such as Berwin Leighton Paisner in London, Halliwells in the North West and Wragge & Co in the Midlands.

Regionally, Newcastle is performing well, while Birmingham has seen a number of departures ± some desired, others not. Norwich ditched its private client arm and lost its corporate team to Mills & Reeve. The firm reorganised its regional management structure, with Cardiff taking charge of Birmingham and Nottingham, London and East Anglia becoming one, and Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle merging to become a northern region.

Overseas, chairman Alan Jenkins signed alliances in Austria, Hungary, Malaysia, Poland, Spain and Germany. The German alliance with Heisse Kursawe ends a long search. Eversheds is convinced of the benefits of a non-financially integrated alliance rather than full-blown merger, but in typically pragmatic fashion it will not rule anything out.

Real estate did better than most areas, with revenue rising 6 per cent to £71.2m. This was due to some lucrative instructions, including Land Securities' £500m Bullring regeneration and advising the London Development Agency on the Olympic City. The HR team also boosted turnover by 6 per cent to £42.4m.