Equity partner earnings are up by nearly a quarter at Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) following a buoyant year for the international firm’s real estate, contentious business and transactional practices.

The London Bridge-headquartered firm posted a 6% increase in income to £259m in 2014/15, while profit per equity partner soared 22% to £659,000. The firm ended the financial year with no bank debt and positive cash balances of £12m.

‘The key growth areas have been the real estate sector, litigation and dispute resolution, of which commercial dispute resolution saw a significant rise, and finance,’ the firm said in a statement.

‘The arrival of Bob Charlton as head of Asia as well as the hire of nine lawyers in Hong Kong positions the Asian offices strongly for the year ahead. Despite a challenging geopolitical climate in Russia, Goltsblat BLP (GBLP) has also maintained growth and generated profit.’

Last month BLP announced plans to double the headcount of its new Manchester office, its first regional office outside London, from 50 to 100.

The office was launched as part of a new process-mapping initiative which includes outsourcing some work to third-party firms and extending the firm’s Lawyers On Demand service.

The latest figures reflect an impressive turnaround for BLP in the last two years, In 2012/13, profit dropped by almost 32% year-on-year and fee income was down 5.3%. After those results were posted, the firm made more than 100 staff members redundant.

View the financial results table here >>