Stephenson Harwood has set an ambitious target to grow its revenue by more than 40% in the next five years without carrying out a merger.

The firm's new five-year strategy sees the Stephenson Harwood target revenue of £225m by 2021 – an increase of 42% on the 2015-16 figure of £157.6m.

The firm also plans to boost its partner ranks by a third during the same time period, taking its partnership from 150 to 200.

Speaking to Legal Week, chief executive Sharon White said: "I don't think many firms could match what we've achieved without a combination of any sort. We have the confidence in our ability to achieve what we want in the next five years without a merger. We don't feel the need to be the biggest firm."

White unveiled the strategy at the firm's partner conference in November, following months of consultation with the partnership.

The targets come after two years of already significant growth at the firm. Stephenson Harwood last year posted an 8.5% increase in turnover against a 1.4% nudge in profit per equity partner (PEP) to £774,000.

In 2014-15, revenue jumped 20% to £145m and PEP soared 42% to £763,000, in part due to an uplift from disputes cases where some of the work was carried out in previous years.

According to White, the firm will grow primarily in London and Asia through a mix of lateral hires and internal promotions. The additions will be spread across the firm's corporate, commercial litigation and finance teams.

We have the confidence in our ability to achieve what we want in the next five years without a merger

In April last year, Stephenson Harwood made its largest ever new partner promotions round, making up nine new partners.

The firm currently has nine offices. Its largest is in London, where it has 98 partners, followed by Hong Kong (23), Singapore (15), Paris (8) and Dubai (4).

White said: "It's unlikely there'll be a change to this order. The growth will broadly reflect our existing shape. But that won't be at the expense of our other offices, which we want to grow proportionally and where the right opportunities allow."

Recent lateral hires include a trio of King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) City corporate partners, including former UK private equity co-head Jonathan Pittal in January this year; Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) real estate partner Pierre-Nicolas Sanzey in May; and a seven-strong team from Eversheds in Hong Kong, including two partners in February.

The firm also has offices in Seoul in South Korea, Shanghai, Beijing and Piraeus in Greece. It is preparing to launch an office in Myanmar later this year and is also considering a base in Iran.

Commenting on Iran, White said: "If we find the right opportunity we would consider having a presence in Iran, a local partnership or, if we find the right person, we might establish our own office."

White has put herself forward for a third term as managing partner when her term expires on 30 September. She first took up the role in 2009 and was reappointed in 2014 to serve a further three year term. She replaced commercial litigator Sunil Gadhia, now at Cleary Gottlieb in London, who spent six years managing the firm before stepping down to continue fee earning.

Commenting on her plans at the firm, she said: "I would like to get out around the business more. I also want to spend more time with the partners by joining the regular practice group partner meetings, which will give partners an opportunity to talk to me and give me more of a connection to what they are doing."

The managing partner position is decided by the firm's partnership council without an election. However, Stephenson Harwood is gearing up for a senior partner election as current post-holder Roland Foord's term runs out at the end of April. Foord, who is understood to have indicated to partners that he wants to stand for a second term, was elected senior partner in 2012 for an initial five-year term, replacing Andrew Sutch after 10 years in the role.