Macfarlanes’ top earner was paid nearly £3.6m in 2022-23 - a financial year described as 'challenging' by senior partner Sebastian Prichard Jones. The top-50 firm ended the period sitting on an £89m cashpile, up from £63m 12 months earlier, newly published accounts show.

Last July the City practice announced that in the year to 30 April 2023 operating profits slipped 6.1% to £154.1m on turnover down 2.3% to £296.6m. Profit per equity partner fell by 15.8% to £2.1m, down from a record £2.5m in 2022. At 30 April 2023, Macfarlanes LLP held £88.7m in cash at the bank (2022 £62.7m).

Macfarlanes office, London

Macfarlanes office in Holborn, London

Source: John Hyde

Total remuneration for the firm’s key executives climbed to £7.8m in 2023 from £6.8m in the previous year.

'After the exceptional impact of the pandemic, which had a positive effect on our financial performance, in a number of respects this was a year of consolidation,' said Prichard Jones last July. 'This included an increase in our equity partnership by 10%, which had what we anticipate to be a short-term impact on our PEP figure. This is an investment we were pleased to make.'

At 30 April Macfarlanes LLP had 95 members (up from 89 in 2022) and 773 staff (729).