Seven years ago a trio of internationally-minded, but underweight UK firms – Denton Hall, Theodore Goddard and Richards Butler – entered into unsuccessful tripartite merger talks.

Of the three, just Richards Butler remains a single entity. The other two have undergone major transformations. Denton Hall, now part of Denton Wilde Sapte, is part of a merger that has yet to bed down. As for Theodore Goddard, its management’s battle to unite the partnership behind a merger almost broke up the firm.