Gateley has seen both revenue and profits drop in 2011-12, after the firm's claims business was spun off at the end of the last financial year.

The firm has seen turnover fall 2.4% from £63m in 2010-11 to £61.5m this year, with profits per equity partner (PEP) dropping 11% to £214,000 from £240,000.

The dip in fee income and PEP was attributed to the spin-off in May 2011 of the firm's Glasgow-based claims business – now known as HBJ Claims Solutions – which encompassed Gateley's motor claims and personal injury practice.

The firm's corporate group was the largest contributor to the 2011-12 turnover, bringing in £35m, with revenue per lawyer coming in at £172,000.

The news comes after Gateley broke into the UK top 50 rankings for the first time last year on the back of a 23% hike in turnover.

The performance was driven by the acquisition of 38 partners from Halliwells in 2010, and the firm's expansion continued this January with a double partner hire from Cobbetts to launch a new office in Leeds.

Gateley has also brought the former Halliwells partners into its main limited liability partnership (LLP) from the start of this new financial year, merging the Gateley Manchester LLP – which was set up to ringfence the business from the rest of the firm at the time of the takeover – into the English LLP.

A number of UK firms have announced their results in recent weeks, with Field Fisher Waterhouse posting a 20% drop in PEP for 2011-12 last week to £410,000 from £510,000 last year alongside a 4% increase in revenues.