Irwin Mitchell has announced its annual partner promotions with four lawyers made up to the salaried rank and two joining the equity.

The promotions are shared between the firm's Sheffield and Manchester offices and will take effect from 1 May this year.

Equity status has been handed to operations director and non-lawyer Gary Jackson in Sheffield and Manchester serious injury head Jonathan Betts.

Meanwhile, the salary partner promotions have seen associates Tom Hall (real estate), Adam Draper (professional negligence) and Phil Tomkinson (motor team) all made up in the Sheffield office, while Tom Seabrook has been promoted in the Manchester property litigation team.

The round marks a decrease on last year's salary partner promotions, when seven lawyers and one non-lawyer were added to the partnership.

Irwin Mitchell chief executive John Pickering said: "These appointments come at a pivotal time for Irwin Mitchell, as we prepare to become an alternative business structure, and the fact that these promotions cover various areas of our business yet again demonstrates the breadth and very high quality of the services we are able to offer private and commercial clients.

"It also underlines our commitment to developing people from all areas within the firm, including again people from a non-legal background, and recognises their achievements and the contribution from every part of Irwin Mitchell in supporting our growth strategy."

The promotions take the total number of partners at the firm to 174.

Irwin Mitchell applied for its ABS licence in January this year, with the firm known to be one of the front-runners in exploring the opportunities presented by the Legal Services Act.