Ince & Co partners refused to contribute to a capital call that could have prevented the firm's collapse, a report into events leading up to its demise has revealed.

Partners at the firm were informed at a meeting last October that if a sale of the business could not be completed to Gordon Dadds – then in takeover talks with the firm – then several steps would need to be taken to prevent Ince from entering administration.

All partners at the firm would have had to agree to a three-year lock-in, and the London LLP, which encompassed the firm's City, Beijing and Shanghai offices, would need to raise £8.5m of capital by April 2019.

The administrator's report to creditors, filed on Companies House this week, states that  partners would need to take out additional partner loans to fund the figure.

But partners "had no appetite" to do so, according to the report – and some salaried partners at the firm who were asked to move to equity and inject capital also declined to acquiesce.

The report also details the circumstances that led the firm to require that capital injection in the first place.

Draft management accounts contained within the document show turnover at the London LLP arm of the business fell 17% from £51.6 million in the 2016-17 financial year to £42.8 million in 2017-2018.

For the six-month period to October 2018, compared to the same period the year before, revenue fell by 26% to £16.7m.

Those results had been compounded by a slew of partner departures from the firm. During the calendar 2017-18 year, 40% of Ince's equity partners left the firm, leading to "immediate issues in respect of profitability and cashflow", according to administrators Quantuma.

In December, it was resolved that former partners would not be paid outstanding capital repayments due by the end of the year in order to manage cashflow.

Former partners told Legal Week in January that they felt betrayed by their former colleagues, and that they would not have resigned if they knew that repayments of their capital would be reneged on.

Meanwhile, turnover for the International LLP – which included the rest of the firm's bases – also dropped, falling 6% from £88.9 million in 2016-17 to £83.8 million in 2017-18. For the six-month period to October 2018, revenue stood at £36.7 million.

The document also reveals that Macfarlanes and Pinsent Masons have taken roles advising on the administration, and amassed total fees of £134,164 and £123,771 respectively.

Macfarlanes has been paid £75,000 of that amount so far.

Meanwhile, administrator Quantuma expects to pocket £800,000 in fees from the process and has so far been paid £138,038.