Costs force wave of moves in City

TWO CITY firms have announced impending office moves to cut back on their overheads.

Nicholson Graham & Jones and Sinclair Roche & Temperley have both cited overheads as reasons for their moves.

However, a third firm gearing up for a move, the Sheffield branch of Bristol-based Wansbroughs Willey Hargrave, cited the near doubling of its staff as the reason behind its change of address.

Later this month Nicholsons will move from three buildings in the City and the West End to newly completed offices in the City's Cannon Street.

Sinclair Roche & Temperley will undertake its move next month. The firm will transfer from Broadwalk House, in Broadgate, to cheaper accommodation in Aldermanbury Square.

The firm said Ashurst Morris Crisp, which occupies three floors of Broadwalk House, offered to take over Sinclairs' 24-year lease.

Sinclairs senior partner Harvey Williams said the firm would now have "less onerous long-term property liabilities."

Fewer overheads are also cited by Nicholsons as a key reason for its move.

A third City firm, Penningtons, based at Dashwood House on Old Broad Street, is also seeking cheaper offices in the City.

Wansbroughs is moving to a four-storey former hospital, Edgar Allen House, to house an expanding staff.

The number of lawyers in Sheffield has grown from 20 to 35 after the firm's acquisition of Oxley & Coward's healthcare group last year.