United First Partners, a well-regarded niche London-based broker set up by the former heads of Icap's special situations and merger arbitrage division, delivered a multi-million pound profit in its first year of trading, according to filings with Companies House.

United First Partners LLP, which was set up by Stephane Mardel and Michael Hadjedj, was incorporated in June 2009 and started trading in January 2010. Mardel and Hadjedj previously worked at Icap, where they led the special situations and merger arbitrage team, with Mardel focused on research and Hadjedj on sales and trading.