“The firm is in Rotterdam because we have always been there and been successful. We want to be where our clients are. From Rotterdam we have good links with London, Duesseldorf and Frankfurt. The Dutch market is small enough to do the work from a single location.”
This statement of Simmons & Simmons’ commitment to the Netherlands’ industrial hub, Rotterdam, came from the former Dutch managing partner, Gerhard Gispen, only 12 months ago. Just three months later, in March this year, Gispen announced his imminent transfer to Amsterdam, along with four partners, to head up a relocated Dutch financial markets team. The u-turn came as little surprise to many market insiders, with the only real question to be pondered being why they had not done it sooner.
