Entering the City is not an easy road for national firms. For those firms that fancy their chances the choices are quite simple: a green-field start followed by a number of years of concerted organic growth, or a merger with a solid City firm.
Both paths are problematic and, until now, Addleshaw Booth & Co looked as if it had fallen behind national rivals DLA, Eversheds and Hammonds. Its City office is fledgling, having launched just four years ago, and the firm has not even considered setting up any foreign offices.
