Coming in with turnover a shade under £100m, the inaugural set of financial results for Bond Dickinson – formed through the merger of legacy firms Bond Pearce and Dickinson Dees in May last year – has propelled it to 37th place in Legal Week's top 50, the higher of the two new entrants in this year's chart.

Now the firm has completed a post-merger redundancy consultation, resulting in anticipated job losses for fewer than 25 employees, and has finalised a two-tier partnership structure with full and junior equity ranks alongside a modified lockstep, it looks to have settled in to its new position – as well as its new London office – pretty smoothly.

"Our first merged filing underlines the strategic rationale for integrating the two businesses," says Jonathan Blair, Bond Dickinson managing partner (pictured, below). "It has enabled us to secure significant panel gains, while supporting our case for reappointments as a result of our enhanced capabilities."

Highlights for Blair in the firm's first year of trading as Bond Dickinson include being appointed to lead insurance provider AIG's new-look EMEA legal panel and a reappointment to Network Rail's legal roster.

The firm also recently recruited an 11-strong private wealth team into its Bristol office and a team of energy lawyers in Aberdeen.

"Too often firms effectively enter a closed period post-merger to 'bed in'," comments Blair. "We took the view that by making appropriate lateral hires to expand our offering and by facilitating partner promotions we would create the greatest platform for growth."

Despite the revenue increase, remuneration at the newly minted firm may become an issue. Average profit per equity partner (PEP) at Bond Dickinson was lower in 2013-14 than at either of the legacy firms that formed it. PEP at Bond Dickinson was £225,000 for 2013-14, compared with Bond Pearce's 2012-13 PEP of £268,000 and £240,000 at Dickinson Dees.

Successful manoeuvering 

The other new entrant in the rankings, TLT, has edged in at number 49 on the back of an impressive 16.9% spike in revenue in 2013-14. For managing partner David Pester (pictured, below), this year's success is the culmination of a sustained period of clear policies and careful manoeuvring. "I think we have had a fairly good track record of consistent growth over a number of years," he says. "Our strategy has positioned us with market share in the areas of expertise we have been developing."

With strong performances from its leisure, retail and financial services groups, the firm has taken on some 15 new partners in the last 12 months. A PEP of £300,000 is higher than the average partner remuneration at firms such as Shoosmiths and Hill Dickinson, which are 10 and 15 places higher than TLT in the fee income rankings respectively.

A major factor in TLT breaking the top 50 was the hire of a 30-strong team from Irwin Mitchell in November to grow the firm's Manchester office, which had already expanded with partner hires from Pinsent Masons, DLA Piper and Hill Dickinson since it opened last summer.

"If you look at the Manchester office now it's ahead of what we expected. It represents about £5m to £6m in fee income," notes Pester, who also highlights major client wins this year such as Boohoo.com, E.ON and Sainsbury's, as well as the firm's appointment to Barclays' preferred supplier panel.

But following a year of investment, Pester downplays the possibility of a rapid ascent of the table. "Cutting and shaping are short-term solutions," he argues. "I anticipate that we will continue to grow but it's not like we will grow all over the place…Getting big for the sake of it doesn't achieve anything."

Top firms of the future

Thanks to a variety of recent mergers, we already have some idea as to which firms may become new entrants in Legal Week's 2014-15 UK top 50. The union of Charles Russell and Speechly Bircham is set to create a top 25 contender with combined revenues of £135m when the tie-up goes live in November, while Blake Morgan, the firm created through the merger of Blake Lapthorn and Morgan Cole in July, is expected to post combined revenues of around £72m, which would have put it in 47th place this year.

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