AN increase in sales for the year to May 31 has propelled East Anglian solicitors Birketts LLP into the national Top 100 law firms.

Birketts, which has offices in Ipswich, Chelmsford, Cambridge and Norwich, with a staff of 390 and 54 partners, has jumped 21 places to 91st position.

Birketts’ chief executive Alistair Lang said: “To reach our highest ever target in excess of �23million of sales would have been good, but to beat it by several hundred thousand pounds to almost �24million is a great achievement by all involved.”

He added: “Generally this growth in fee income is the result of increased market share rather than a general uplift in the economy, with a number of sectors remaining challenging in terms of activity.”

The Chelmsford office is the latest addition to Birketts’ network, resulting from its merger with Wollastons LLP in September last year.

“All offices have been able to build a good momentum during the year, particularly with the new Chelmsford team settling and delivering the goods,” added Mr Lang.

“The range of legal services provided and the broad base of skills in the firm have helped us enormously in the face of a sluggish market place.”