Nabarro Nathanson had a conservative year in comparison with some of its midmarket rivals, increasing turnover by around 10 per cent to £107.3m and average PEP, also by 10 per cent, to £451,000.

The firm, which has 75 per cent of its partners in the equity, is targeting another 10 per cent rise for the current financial year and will be looking to get its PEP above the £500,000 mark. The high equity ratio compared with some of its rivals means Nabarros will generally lag behind on PEP, but it remains competitive with its midmarket peer group on its average EPP figure, posting £381,000.

The firm's total compensation to all of its 109 partners was £41.5m last year, with 82 of them sharing in the net profit of £37m. The firm's 27 fixed-share partners can expect average pay from the remaining £4.5m of £167,000. The equity spread last year ran from £227,000 at the bottom to £690,000 at the top.

The firm operates an entirely merit-based system for partner remuneration. A partner is judged according to aspects including financial and risk management, team and individual performance, and business development. There are bands within the equity, but no gateways or band quotas.

Nabarros has 90 partners in London and 19 in Sheffield. The firm also maintains a small Brussels office with just one fee-earner and is taking advantage of a building refurbishment to move to larger floor space, with a negligible increase in rent. The firm's European best friends August & Debouzy and Gassner Stockmann & Kollegen also use the office.

Nabarros moved to streamline its practice areas in the past year, closing its patent prosecution practice following the departure of IP partner Barbara Cookson. It also had an amicable split with its three-lawyer charities practice, which moved to Bath-based charity specialist Stone King at the close of the financial year.