Barlow Lyde & Gilbert covered an additional £3m in staff costs over the 2007-08 financial year after boosting salaries by around 7%.

The firm’s first limited liability partnership (LLP) accounts show Barlows spent £33.9m on employee costs, against £30.2m the previous year. The figure includes around £30m on salaries for its 602 staff, with the remainder going on social security and pensions costs.