Withers’ 2010-11 financial ­results showed a drop in net profit of 7.6 per cent, from £21m to £19.4m.

Turnover (£m): 100.8

Average PEP: 323

Equity spread (£k): 202-600

Profit margin (%): 19

RPL (£k): 385

Vision –
Execution –
Governance –

Average profit per equity partner dropped by 10 per cent, from £359,000 to £323,000, compared with the 31 per cent rise during the ­previous financial year. Meanwhile, bottom-of-equity payments

fell by 12 per cent, from £230,000 to £202,000, while top of ­equity remained static at £600,000.

Withers has continued to bolster its overseas presence with the launch of an office in Zurich to target business centres that attract high-net-worth individuals. Zurich in particular attracts wealth from Russia, Eastern Europe and Israel.

The firm is heavily reliant on private client and ­family work, ­acting for a number of ultra-high-net-worth ­individuals, including the likes of the Barclay brothers and Formula 1 boss Bernie ­Ecclestone.

Withers’ international network, which contributed more than half (£59.3m) of the £100.8m billed last year, has grown significantly in the past three years. It was the first London onshore firm to open an office in the British Virgin Islands after relocating partner John Greenwood there. This came a year after it launched in Hong Kong. The firm is also close to opening an office in Singapore and

is in talks with a with a local firm there to take office space for a ­starting initiative comprising two partners. The partners, who

are likely to be US- and UK-qualified, will practise tax and trust law with the aim of advising high-net-worth clients throughout

the region.