Theodore Goddard (TG) is set to recommend a UK merger to its partnership with Addleshaw Booth & Co emerging as the most likely suitor to the embattled City firm.

It is understood that TG’s merger team – which consists of chief operating officer Nigel West, banking partner James Ballinghall and senior partner Paddy Grafton Green – will recommend one UK firm to its partners, while a vote on whether to proceed could go ahead within the next two weeks.