Addleshaw Goddard plans to widen the gap between the top and bottom of the equity through partner bonuses and more flexible use of its existing lockstep structure to hit its recently announced target of getting star performers up to £1m a year by 2019.

Managing partner John Joyce confirmed that the goal, set as part of a new five year strategy, will be met by widening the equity spread to better reward top performers, rather than by focusing on significantly raising average profit per equity partner (PEP). 

Addleshaws has been gradually moving towards a more merit-based structure in recent years, with partners assessed annually on performance.

New assessment criteria are yet to be confirmed, but the firm's next partner review is likely to see a small number of partners moving significantly up the ladder, while others may see small reductions. 

"It's about moving the reward structure rather than a PEP race," managing partner John Joyce (pictured) told Legal Week, "Yes we want to drive profits up to get the average up but, rather than having a flat structure, the top of the equity and bottom need to be wider. We can give bonuses to partners and we also have an equity ceiling which has never been used."

Hitting the £1m target for top earners would mean almost doubling the current top of the lockstep, which stood at around £560,000 in 2013-14. 

With a more rigorous measurement of partner performance, the new strategy also hopes to increase the firm's profit margin to 30% up from around 23% at present.