Norton Rose's turnover rose just 4 per cent last year to £210m, a result that sees the firm drop out of the top 10 UK firms. Average PEP rose by 4.7 per cent to £445,000, a better result than Norton Rose has managed since 2003, but still behind the £520,000 it managed in 2001. And the percentage rise itself lags well behind the market average for last year.

This was the first full year without the firm's Cologne office, which brought in around £14m, but nevertheless, in such a strong corporate market, the results show that Norton Rose is still struggling. The firm's 30 per cent profit margin is good, but not outstanding.

Average EPP at £371,000 was down on last year due to a rise in the total number of partners, from 195 in 2005 to 197 in 2006. However, the net gain was all outside the UK, with 80 of the firm's partners now based in foreign offices compared with 71 the previous year. In London the total partnership dropped from 124 in 2005 to 117.

Norton Rose has also suffered from a string of equity partner departures during the past year, seeing numbers slashed from 155 in 2005 to just 140 in 2006. Of those departures, 11 came from the firm's London office, with the greatest loss being a four-partner securitisation team that departed for Baker & McKenzie.

The firm's foreign offices are faring better, with fewer departures and strong growth. Paris in particular is in the middle of a hiring spree, beefing up in finance.

Chief executive Peter Martyr continues to pursue his strategy of focusing on finance work, although following the partner losses finance turnover dropped to just 35 per cent of the firm's total turnover. Litigation and property make up 15 and 6 per cent respectively, with litigation rising from the previous year. The firm's major clients are still large banks, including ABN Amro and HSBC, in addition to corporates and industrial giants such as Corus, Drax Group and Nestlé.

Norton Rose operates a modified lockstep that includes gateways where partner performance is reviewed.