Travers Smith Braithwaite’s philosophy of small(ish) is beautiful has certainly paid dividends for the firm. With 14 partners and 36 assistants, its corporate M&A and private equity practice has consistently punched well above its weight.

Never a real contender for the transactional elite, the firm has been happy to concentrate on targeting mid-market corporate work including a sprinkling of high profile M&A and IPO deals. And it has paid off. With a deal range between £10m and £400m, the firm closed 337 deals worth £39bn between January 1998 and August 2001.