Turnover (£m): 34.7
Average PEP: 303
Equity spread (£k): 120-410
Profit margin (%): 18
RPL (£k): 216

With its heavy focus on the public services market and reliance on legal work generated by the now defunct Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, 2010-11 was never going to be easy for Bevan Brittan.

That said, despite seeing revenue drop by almost 8 per cent, from £37.7m to £34.7m, the Bristol firm’s average profit per equity partner (PEP) was up by 5 per cent, from £288,000 to £303,000. Top and bottom of equity, meanwhile, stood at £410,000 and £120,000 respectively. The firm achieved this by slashing costs, including redundancies in 2010. This followed the Government abolishing BSF, a move that resulted in the firm losing £2.5m in potential revenue.

Ninety per cent of Bevan Brittan’s work is public services, split roughly 35 per cent health, 25 per cent local government and housing and 30 per cent private sector entities that provide services to the public sector. Around 40 per cent of clients are health trusts and 30 per cent local government bodies, as well as private sector businesses.

Bevan Brittan operates a merit-based ­remuneration system. Management is delegated to non-lawyer CEO Andrew Manning, who took the helm after Stuart Whitfield was voted out following the firm’s disastrous performance in 2007-08, when PEP plummeted to just £180,000. Under Manning’s leadership net debt has been slashed from £10m to zero over the past four years.