Turnover (£m): 8.4
RPL (£k): 263

Hamlins is looking to grow, at least in terms of its partner headcount, but last year the general continuing slump in transactional business hit the West End

firm’s top line. Total revenue dropped by around £200,000 to £8.4m. ­Average profit per equity partner also dropped to around £290,000.But a succession of recent partner hires, ­including those of litigator Laura Harcombe from Dawsons, libel specialist Chris Hutching from M-Law and former Kanter Jules property partner Joe Holder, has led Hamlins to target an aggressive budget for 2011-12 of £9.2m. Its debt-free position helps with recruitment, with all capital expenditure financed out of retained profit.

Hamlins has long had a reputation for media and entertainment matters, although this group, which includes marketing and IP, ­contributes around 20 per cent of revenue. The firm’s largest group is real estate at around 35 per cent followed by lender services (20 per cent) and corporate (15 per cent).