After 35 years at Travers Smith, senior partner Chris Carroll has come to embody the firm's traditional but unconventional culture. As he prepares to step down, he talks to Georgina Stanley about his determination to preserve Travers' boutique model, and what lies ahead for the firm

A lot has changed in the world in the 35 years since Travers Smith's outgoing senior partner Chris Carroll joined the firm in 1978. But as globalisation has driven many of the firm's most comparable City rivals through a series of international office launches and mergers, Travers has remained resolutely independent.

Granted, with just over 60 partners and 250 lawyers, it is much bigger than it was when Carroll joined, when it numbered just 13 partners and employed just one female lawyer.

Beyond these shifts in size, diversity and – of course – technology, much at Travers has remained the same. Even the firm's Snow Hill headquarters in Farringdon has moved just four doors down the road. 

The upshot is that by remaining independent and eschewing global expansion, Travers, like Slaughter and May and Macfarlanes, has managed to remain one of only a handful of leading UK firms to retain both a standing in the market and a strong partnership culture despite being dwarfed in size by rivals. 

The traditional but slightly eccentric culture is very much embodied by Carroll himself, who will step down at the end of this month (30 June) after three years as senior partner, and three three-year terms as managing partner before that, to be succeeded by fellow private equity partner Chris Hale.

It is a style of doing business that the firm guards ferociously, as Carroll explains: "We have a culture that we value very highly and that is more important than the amount of money we earn. We start with the people and careful recruitment: we want driven, emotionally and intellectually intelligent people who are collegiate and engaging.

"Sustainability is something we constantly keep an eye on but if we can continue to get up each morning and enjoy the work we do, the company we keep and the money we take home, then what's not to like?"

Given the stark differences between the firm's strategy and those of most of its peers, there have been many moments when Travers' partners have questioned its direction but, no matter how many times it has been looked at, the consensus has always been to remain independent. 

"In the 1980s and 90s we took a bet that we would be able to meet the challenge of globalisation differently, that we could satisfy it from London," says Carroll. "Luckily we've been proved right so far.

"We've always had a City institutional client base rather than major corporates, so we gambled on London remaining a leading financial centre and to date it's worked. Of course, we've always had a get out of jail free card in that if it all went wrong we're small enough that we could just merge, but we haven't needed to and have no intention of doing so."

Rolling with the punches

While the relentless overseas expansion of some firms around the world has put pressure on Travers' approach and driven a need for constant review of its relationships – relying as it does on links with a network of independent firms for the more than 50% of its work that is international – at no point has the firm's model looked more precarious than in the wake of Lehman's collapse in 2008.

Post-Lehman, the corporate work on which Travers built its name – including private equity – pretty much fell off a cliff, providing exposure to very new management challenges. Deals dried up and productivity levels plummeted. So much so that its 2008-09 financial results saw revenues plunge by 20% to £64.5m, while profits per equity partner (PEP) fell more than 37% to £470,000. 

And despite concerted efforts on Carroll's part to cut costs without widespread redundancies and to motivate the firm, without the practice and geographic hedging of some of its rivals it hasn't been entirely plain sailing since. Revenues did, however, climb 11.6% in 2009-10 against a 53.5% rise in PEP, with the following year seeing static revenues against a dip in PEP of just under 8%.

"There were some bad moments post-Lehman. February 2009 was a definite low point – it was a full five months after Lehman collapsed but the world had changed and you wondered if it had changed forever. A lot of what we did stopped happening: banks were on a precipice; the country was on a precipice. It was very character-building to be running a firm then.

"At the same time though, on an objective level, we got to experience living through history and that was fascinating." 

And after a difficult few years the firm – traditionally seen as a bellwether of the UK market – seems to have successfully bounced back. Despite the continued difficulties in the economy, 2011-12 saw PEP rise 23.7% to £804,000 against a revenue rise of 16%. According to Carroll, the firm's relatively small size and focus on mid-market deals rather than mega transactions helped turn the situation around rather than a shift in approach.

"We didn't change anything," he says, "our clients had been promising they would do something and eventually they did."

And while the firm's performance over the last financial year has been broadly flat, its ability to retain activity levels despite the continuing problems suggests the model isn't in need of any radical fixes yet.

The road ahead

So, as Carroll prepares to hand over to Hale, what does the future hold for Travers? If Carroll is right, the answer is almost certainly more of the same. Certainly there seems little risk of any sudden U-turns.

"If you were baking a Travers cake, the key ingredients would be quality, profitability, collegiality and sustainability. That last part has been constantly questioned by us and the market, and who's to say what the future will bring, but so far so good. It's all about culture and we've deliberately stayed a size where we have been able to preserve that culture.

"Nothing is easy and we are very far from being complacent, but I think the firm will go on thriving. I'd be pretty surprised if it disappeared in a merger. Every bone in its body is against it. Ultimately, there are many roads to heaven but we think ours is the most congenial one to be on."

And while its model may differ markedly from many others in the City, it has no shortage of admirers.

Norton Rose Fulbright global chief executive Peter Martyr comments: "Chris embodies what Travers is, and I'm sure he'll leave a lasting influence on it. After his departure I wouldn't expect to see any major changes with its impact on the market – the firm historically operates as a boutique, which I think there is always a place in the market for. Chris has always believed it is a viable model and I wouldn't disagree."

But Carroll will continue to play a role in Travers' future as, for the next few years, he will be a consultant at the firm (officially starting on 1 July). This will see him devote some 80 days a year to Travers and its all-important relationships with international firms. Probably around half of this time will be in the office, with the remainder to be spent overseas doing what he does best – performing an ambassadorial role travelling and networking with both new and existing relationship firms. 

As his successor Hale comments: "I think Chris's lasting impact will be the work he put into developing our international network, which means that we can now compete internationally despite not having offices all over the world. In particular his efforts in the US, India and Europe. It's one of the reasons he's staying on as a consultant – to help foster and transfer these relationships. 

"He's become a mini-celebrity in international law firm and journalistic circles, but they're not areas I will be attempting to compete in; my focus will be on my areas of expertise – clients and business development."

In addition to his work with the firm Carroll intends to take up some advisory board positions – but nothing too strenuous. 

"I'm more of a work to live person than a live to work person," he laughs with typical vigour. "I've got a family in the country to spend time with, alpacas to breed and a wine cellar to drink through… not to mention a golf handicap to bring down.

"I've worked for a long time and have had a great time doing so but, while I've enjoyed my career immensely, I'm very much looking forward to the retirement aspect of my semi-retirement. In fact I'm very excited about it."