Bird & Bird has posted a 4% turnover increase for 2013-14, taking fee income past the £250m mark for the first time in the firm's history.

Turnover rose from £249m to £259m, a performance the firm put down to a strong showing from its core technology practice, as well as growth in the Asian and Middle Eastern markets.

The firm made 15 lateral hires over the course of the year and, in February, took its first strides into Korea via a cooperation agreement with Seoul-based outfit Hwang Mok Park.

The accounts are as yet unaudited and profit per equity partner has not been finalised, but the firm expects net profit to be slightly down.

Bird & Bird CEO David Kerr said: "It continues to be a difficult market, but we are continuing to do some quite fun things."

"There are a lot of pressures on overall fees from clients wanting more for less, and we are having to respond to that. There is a lot of discussion with clients about how they want to see services evolve."

Though the revenue figures are not broken down by jurisdiction, Kerr estimated that UK turnover had also grown somewhere in the region of 4%. Kerr says the firm is keen to "continue to develop" the cooperation agreements the firm has in Asia.

Debt at the firm grew 20% in the 2012-13 financial year to £22.4m.