Baker McKenzie saw revenue and PEP climb to new heights in 2017-18, with turnover reaching a record $2.9bn (£2.2bn) globally and PEP breaking £1m for the first time.

The international firm's turnover in dollars jumped more than 8% year-on-year for the financial year ending 30 June, while PEP climbed 13% to reach $1.44m (£1.1m). The hike represents the first time that global PEP has cleared £1m in sterling.

By region, Europe, the Middle East and Africa brought in 39% of Bakers' revenue during the last financial year, while the Americas accounted for 35% and Asia-Pacific 26%.

Global chair Paul Rawlinson (pictured) said the stellar results came from the firm winning a greater market share as a result of closer client relationships, with profitability boosted by more efficient service delivery.

He said: "Our strategy of deepening client relationships across industries is paying dividends. We're getting a greater share across not just practices but jurisdictions too. We've also been spending time changing our delivery mechanisms to make sure we're efficient as possible."

To further increase efficiency, Bakers has recently launched a programme that will see business services professionals working closely with partners to provide specialist support to clients, with the firm also rolling out third-party tech providers to more offices.

Bakers is also set to add to its existing legal service centre offering, which includes Belfast and Manila in the Philippines, with the launch of another base later this year.

Rawlinson said the firm estimates that its Belfast centre, e-discovery platforms and legal project managers are already bringing in more than $50m a year of revenue.

During the last financial year, Bakers expanded its international reach – opening an office in Los Angeles and bringing in 53 lateral partner hires globally. Combined with new partner promotions, the firm reached 1,600 partners on 1 July, 26% of whom are women.

Last month, the firm took a significant step towards financial integration in its European operations, when London and seven other EMEA offices joined a new single profit pool.

Rawlinson said that over time further offices will join the new EMEA+ group, which is led by Bakers' Brussels-based global head of antitrust Fiona Carlin.

He added: "We're hoping we'll add more offices to the group by next year, which should mean that the vast majority of the region is in a single profit pool."