RPC closes in on £200m growth target

By Jessica Turner 09/06/2026 3 min read 8 views

Law firm RPC posted its second strongest revenue growth in a decade, with turnover climbing 11% to £198 million from £178.2 million the previous year. The increase marks the highest growth rate it has recorded since the 2020-21 financial year, when turnover surged by 24%.

The results bring the firm within striking distance of the £200 million turnover mark, a threshold that managing partner James Miller described as “the first step in our growth trajectory.” Miller said the outfit has been investing heavily in its dispute resolution and insurance practices, which drove much of the uptick.

Profit figures and headcount changes

Profit per equity partner (PEP) rose to £601,000, up from £547,000 in the prior year — a gain of about 10%. That number stays just shy of the firm’s 2022 peak of £618,000, which was inflated by a one-off gain from a property sale. RPC added 13 new partners over the period, bringing total partner headcount to 126. Overall staff numbers grew to 1,037 from 1,005, a modest increase that reflects targeted hiring rather than broad expansion. It also opened a new office in Singapore, its first base in Asia outside of the existing Hong Kong outpost.

Revenue per lawyer, a standard metric for law firm efficiency, came in at roughly £191,000, flat compared to the prior year. That suggests the additional headcount has yet to fully translate into higher per-lawyer billing.

Market pressures and rate negotiations

The firm’s growth came against a backdrop of rising salary costs across the legal sector. RPC increased associate pay twice during the financial year, following market-wide pressure to retain talent after a wave of recruitment by U.S. and top London firms. Miller said clients have pushed back more on rate increases than in previous years, though it managed to improve its billing rates by about 5% across the board. “It’s been a harder conversation with clients than in 2022,” he told reporters. “But the work quality justifies it.” The outfit did not disclose whether any major accounts moved work elsewhere as a result.

Some analysts have questioned whether the U.K. legal market can sustain widespread rate increases as corporate clients continue to squeeze outside counsel budgets. A recent survey by buyers of legal services found that nearly half of in-house legal departments expect to reduce the number of law firms they use over the next two years.

International expansion and the Singapore bet

The new Singapore office opened with a team of four partners focused on international arbitration and insurance disputes, areas where RPC sees growth potential tied to Asia’s infrastructure and energy sectors. It had previously served clients in the region through referrals and its Hong Kong office. Singapore is a crowded market for foreign law firms, with more than 100 international outfits registered there. RPC’s early bet is that its niche in insurance and contentious work will give it room to carve out market share without needing to compete head-on with Magic Circle or U.S.-based firms on transactional work.

The organization also expanded its presence in Bristol and Manchester, adding offices in both cities over the past two years. Those offices now house about 60 lawyers combined, and Miller said they expect to double that headcount within three years as clients increasingly prefer regional fee arrangements over London pricing. One slightly unusual detail in the filing: RPC spent nearly £1 million on “client entertainment and business development events” — roughly double what it spent the previous year.

The outfit declined to provide a breakdown.

The figure reflected the return to in-person events after pandemic-era restrictions.

Net debt stood at £14.2 million, up from £11.8 million, driven largely by the costs of the office openings and technology upgrades. Miller said they are comfortable with that level of borrowing, given that interest rates have stabilized from their 2023 highs.