Equity partnership brings significant rewards - more than 1 million a year at a 'magic circle' firm - yet the demands are onerous.

Only a handful of municipal operators remain, with some securing their futures with equity partnership deals with private operators.

In 2007, the firm went through a restructuring of its business, which involved slimming down the size of its equity partnership.

Equity partnership interest was widely distributed among employees.

Fund sizes have been growing rapidly over the past 12 months, as private equity partnerships vie with each other in the most competitive auctions.