Camerons to cut 9 per cent of support staff as part of Integreon deal
CMS Cameron McKenna is to lay off 9 per cent of its support staff, with a further 21 per cent facing relocation, as part of the transfer of its business services functions to outsourcer Integreon.
Duncan Weston
The details of the agreement with Integreon were revealed to staff at the firm yesterday.
Of the 363 people currently employed in business services roles, 21 per cent will be relocated to either Bristol or India - the equivalent of 76 members of staff. As many as 33 face redundancy.
It is not clear how many of the redundancies will come from the London office, where just over half the firm’s support staff are based.
In a memo to staff, managing partner Duncan Weston said: “We’re pleased to be moving forward with our plans to work with Integreon. Unfortunately, this will mean some redundancies in London as Integreon relocates and adds resources to Bristol and India, re-engineers processes and deploys new technology.
“The changing legal landscape requires constant innovation in the way we do business. This new approach to our business services will give us the ability to focus on our clients and provide a more sophisticated service.
“It creates greater flexibility to scale support services based on demand, and gives us access to a more advanced technology with the benefits of future investment by Integreon towards building a unified business model. It’ll also allow us the option to integrate our approach to business services across our international businesses.”
Camerons kicked off a consultation process with all staff yesterday ahead of the proposed transfer date of 1 April.
The proposed transfer will see Integreon buy the shares in Camerons’ business service company, meaning it will not have to transfer the remaining staff under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)) regulations. The proposals will see transferred employees retain their current salaries, terms and conditions.
The firm would not give details of the price paid for its business service company, but confirmed that the money would be recapitalised and used on future projects, including investments in new technologies and real estate.
Integreon will take a floor in Camerons’ City base from the summer, with chief operating officer Tony Wright, who has been on secondment with the outsourcer since June last year, expected to become an Integreon employee.
The Camerons partnership voted unanimously in favour of the deal last November (23 November 2010). Partners will not be involved in consultations with support staff.
Integreon CEO Liam Brown said: “CMS has the highest standards and set us the goal of delivering best-in-class services. We’re glad that we met their bar and look forward to a mutually rewarding, long-term relationship.”
Some transferred staff will service other Integreon clients in addition to Camerons, although the majority are expected to work exclusively for the firm.
View results 10 per page | 20 per page | 50 per page
Readers' comments (29)
Anonymous | 27-Jan-2011 9:50 pm
To Anonymous | 27-Jan-2011 4:55 pm
Why does it become "a matter of human values and ethics"
We are talking about law firms here. They exist purely to make money.
Solicitors are just coin machines for their firms. They are only as useful as the money they bring in.
Solicitors are highly expendable and so ethics and values are not applicable.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 31-Jan-2011 2:15 pm
Support staff are the roots of any company. The backbone. They work diligently, and with minimum fuss to ensure the needs of the clients, both internal and external, are met. Without them the company will still run, and the people at the top will continue to get even richer. There is no doubt about that. However, what most companies fail to realise is, the service levels they have come to expect and rely upon, will suddenly be gone. And unfortunately, the loyalty, service, dedication, flexibility and attention to detail shown by the support staff of CMS over the last 40 years will only be missed when it is no longer there. To those of you who believe we are "flab" to be cut off, and seem to feel we need reminding that this is "a business". We, who pay the bills, bank the payments, bill the clients and generally make sure the rest of you can do your jobs properly, do not need reminding. We are the people who keep that business running on a day to day basis. You may feel smug and superior now, however, it would be wise to consider the implications for the next level up. The outsourcing of support staff is without doubt, only the beginning. How long do you think it will be before the "powers that be" start pruning back the twigs and branches half way up the tree and beyond. Trust me, nobody is safe from this. It is only a matter of time.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 31-Jan-2011 5:11 pm
What surprises me most about the situation support staff are in today is that very few of them belong to a union. Normally, when an employer seeks to sack people without good reason, make working conditions worse, or cut pay, then staff strike - often with some positive results for the staff. Unions will also provide legal support for anyone who needs it. (That's why people in Europe fought for decades to develop unions so they could help protect employees' rights in situations just like this.)
Lawyers like to say how useless support staff are, then let them try and run the firm when half the staff go on strike on a Monday morning - just sit back and watch them sh*t themselves with panic as the machine grinds to a sudden and embarrassing halt. 'Oh dear,' says the managing partner, 'we do in fact need these people, after all.'
I really hope the rest of the employees in the City understand what is coming and how best to fight it. If you do not demonstrate now that you have some leverage, then you cannot expect bosses to listen to your greivances in the future.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 1-Feb-2011 4:30 pm
Anonymous | 31-Jan-2011 2:15 pm
Congratulations on making the first worthy comment on this board.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 1-Feb-2011 5:39 pm
Interesting to see Integreon winning business when CPA Global looks like pulling out of the LPO/LSO business in Europe, with round of redundancies this week - as they cant get the model to work.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Studio Legale | 2-Feb-2011 10:07 am
And not so long time ago Camerons were seen as a reputable old fashioned English law firm dating back to 1700s. The times have changed defintiely....Not sure if for the best though.....
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
giantcurrymidget | 2-Feb-2011 4:51 pm
I bet the Partners at Cameron Mckenna will still be pocketing huge sums of cash.
Never mind the support staff who have given 5, 10, 20 years of their working lives to the company.
Makes you sick.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Penny-Pincher | 3-Feb-2011 10:20 am
For some reason up until this week the finance staff in particular have remained loyal to their partners. Pushing them to achieve maximum billings - ensuring that they don't have to deal with asking their clients to pay their bills (such a dirty business) and making sure they don't have to fend off demands for payment from experts etc
In the brave new world when the fee earners have access to a single one stop finance shop (an army of accountants if the role profile is true) and are governed by workflows and processes and farming it off to India, the fee earners will no longer have that - they will have to do it themselves - or pass it on to their secretary - who will spend so much time chasing around and dealing with this sort of stuff they won't have time to do your typing - or indeed your marketing proposals seeing as you've already got rid of your marketing staff
But hey ... at least you'll be getting a better service - and nice reports and apparently for a cheaper price as qualified accountants don't cost as much as an unqualified people person - go figure!
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment
Anonymous | 4-Feb-2011 7:04 am
Come on people - this is the way of the world in the 21st century. Companies want to maximise their profits and they don't care what carnage this causes along the way. If you want out then get out, if you don't or can't then make the most of what actually could be a good opportunity for you, working for an ever-expanding multinational empire.
Unsuitable or offensive? Report this comment