Olswang reduced its net debt by more than 20% during the last financial year, according to the firm's first limited liability partnership (LLP) filings.

The UK top 50 firm saw total debt drop from just under £13.5m in 2009 down to just under £10.5m for the year ending 30 April 2010, according to filings with Companies House, with cash in hand and at the bank increasing to £4.7m, up from £337,000 the previous year.

The filings also show that Olswang reduced its professional and administrative staff headcount by nearly 11% over the year, with total staff numbers dropping from 542 to 484 as a result of cost-saving measures, with staff costs falling from £36.3m to £31.5m as a result.

The average number of equity members remained almost static at 97 compared to 100 the previous year.

Olswang managing partner David Stewart (pictured) told Legal Week that cash in hand increased partly as a result of the firm taking 14 months to distribute profits at the end of the 2008-09 financial year rather than 12.

He said: "The reduction in our net debt comes as a result of better management of our work in process and better financial discipline. We expect the reduction to continue."

In June Olswang reported a 38% increase in profits per equity partner to £420,000 for 2009-10, while turnover increased by 2% to £91m.

The news comes after the firm recently posted a dip in revenues for the first half of 2010-11 to £43.3m.The drop marks a 3% decrease on the same period in 2009-10, when the firm posted fee income of £44.7m.

Stewart said that internationally the firm had performed very well, with its German and Belgium offices experiencing growth of 151% compared to the same period last year.