Peter Jackson, Hill Dickinson CEO

Hill Dickinson's key management team were paid 5% more in their collective pay last year, while pay for the top-earning partner at DAC Beachcroft rose by 3%, according to the firms' latest limited liability partnership accounts.

Pay for Hill Dickinson's management team rose from £4.3 million in 2018 to £4.5 million last year, while remuneration for the top-earning partner at the firm rose to £460,000, an increase of 3% on 2018.

In 2017, Hill Dickinson agreed a deal to sell its insurance business to U.K. top 50 firm Keoghs, which the firm reported last year had impacted its 2019 headline revenue figures.

Hill Dickinson chief executive officer Peter Jackson told Law.com U.K. affiliate Legal Week that turnover at the remaining section of the business, excluding the turnover generated by the insurance business, grew by 10%.

Turnover at the firm stands at £90 million, according to the accounts, while operating profit rose by 14% to hit £25 million.

Hill Dickinson also saw a significant drop in headcount last year due to the insurance sell-off, the accounts show, with 219 people leaving the firm during the year.

Of that figure, 57 were either business support staff or those in secretarial or administrative roles.

Meanwhile, the top paid partner at DAC Beachcroft took home £891,000 last year, up 3% from £865,000 the previous year.

Collective management pay at DAC Beachcroft stayed largely flat on 2018, with management taking home £9.8 million, down from £9.87 million last year — a drop of 0.5%. Revenues at the firm grew by 6% last year to £243 million.

Total staff numbers rose by 126 in 2019 to reach 2,422, a 5% increase, as staff costs surged by 8% to hit £138.3 million.

In September, DAC Beachcroft revealed that it was considering launching a "flexi-lawyer" service, which would allow lawyers to work on a fixed-term basis, while earlier this month the firm added 20 lawyers to its Madrid office through a tie-up with a local firm.