We have become used to City partners being lured away to the major regional centres such as Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester, but two moves at the end of last year demonstrated that there is another option for London escapees that is proving equally compelling.

In November, Guildford-based Stevens & Bolton announced that it had pulled off a bit of a coup by persuading Simmons & Simmons’ head of corporate, Ken Woffenden, to leave the City firm to practise in the Home Counties.