Nicholas Purnell QC at 23 Essex Street had been discussing the prospect of launching a new set of criminal chambers with colleagues in other sets for several years before the launch became reality.

But the news that Purnell, along with Edmund Lawson QC, Julian Bevan QC, Timothy Langdale QC, John Kelsey-Fry QC, Richard Horwell QC and Ian Winter QC, was heading off to Smithfield to set up Cloth Fair Chambers still caught the bar’s attention.

Purnell and his colleagues cite the Carter reforms to legal aid and the continued pressures on publicly funded work as the catalyst for Cloth Fair. In launching the set the silks are making a bold statement about the future of the independent bar and their desire to uphold its traditions.