North East firm BHP Law saw a dip in total ­revenue last year, from £9m to £8m, reflecting of the general downturn of transactional ­business, according to managing partner John Pratt.

Turnover (£m): 8
RPL (£k): 163

But the entrepreneurial firm, which has recently launched several BHP-branded strands, including sports agency BHP Sport, is confident that a concerted push on costs will help top-line growth recover lost ground. Pratt is also hoping that a recent investment by Hitachi in a new train factory in Newton Aycliffe will benefit the firm’s office in the town.

BHP spun off its financial management arm last year for around £400,000. The firm’s core commercial market is small and medium-sized companies. The private client side is wide-­ranging, acting for large family trusts and members of the general public who need traditional legal services (the latter portion of the business contributes around £1.5m towards turnover).

Commercial litigation and personal injury bring in around £1.2m apiece, while the family department also provides a sizeable chunk of revenue, contributing £1m to turnover.