Goldman Sachs promoted 94 staff, including a handful of British staff, to the position of partner, the firm’s highest rank.

About a quarter of the new partners are based in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and, from the UK, they include Denise Wyllie, Goldman’s head of operations in Europe and Julian Salisbury, who runs the bank’s European special situations group in Russia. Alasdair Warren, who was head of UK investment banking before moving to Dubai this year, is also on the list.

The new partners will now be eligible for a larger share of the bank’s bonus pool, although that pool is expected be much smaller than in recent years as Goldman’s profits shrink.

Goldman’s profit in the first nine months of the year was $4.44 billion, down 47 per cent from last year’s record over the same period. The group has set aside $11.4 billion for pay, bonus and benefits this year, down 32 per cent from the same time in 2007.

The number of people named partner is down slightly from the 115 people elected in 2006, the last time a new round of partners was named.

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