Olswang chief executive Jonathan Goldstein to some extent characterised the year when he said that £500,000 was the new "benchmark" for midmarket firms (The Lawyer, 15 May).

It is, of course, a convenient figure, both for Olswang (which managed to surpass that average PEP figure) and for the whole of the top 100. (£500,000 was coincidentally almost exactly the average PEP of the top 50 for the first time.)

Olswang's success in reaching that PEP milestone was achieved by a strategy that stems from 2002. That was the point when the former technology, media and telecoms (TMT) firm par excellence began to broaden its practice to include real estate. This now forms some 20 per cent of Olswang's £77.7m turnover, a rapid growth achieved primarily by a series of acquisitions in the intervening period, including Garretts, DJ Freeman, Julian Holy Solicitors and, in May 2006, Kanter Jules.

The firm is tightly run, with a lockup target of just 95 days. Last year average lockup stood at 96.8 days, while at the year-end it was only slightly more at 107.9 days (29.1 days WIP and 78.8 debtor). Partners are remunerated entirely on a merit basis, with last year's top of equity nudging up towards the £1m mark. Turnover in 2005-06 was up by 21.4 per cent on 2004-05, while PEP hit £531,000, up by an astonishing 31 per cent.

Olswang's Reading operation turned over £4.5m last year with a 29 per cent profit margin, just below the firmwide margin of 31 per cent. Reading did, however, lose its chief executive Paul Wilson after only six months in the job when he returned to Birmingham, joining local firm Putsmans.

Olswang's relationship with US firm Greenberg Traurig appears to be developing successfully, with a number of referrals during the year and a nascent secondee programme. The firm remains behind the pace on the Continent, however. Expect to see Olswang target Europe for growth sooner rather than later.