Manchester firm follows non-doms to Switzerland

Manchester tax and estates firm Lane-Smith & Shindler is opening an office in Zurich in a bid to attract non-doms who may leave the UK as a result of future tax changes.

The office will specialise exclusively in trust issues and will work with Swiss trust companies in particular.

Managing partner and president of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), Geoffrey Shindler, said: "Both work and people will be moving to [Switzerland]. There's a definite concern that England isn't as secure as it once was."

The Zurich boutique, which will operate as L-S & S, will comprise English qualified solicitors Tim Urquhart, who is the current chairman of STEP in Zurich, and Anita Braun, who has seven years' experience of working in Switzerland on trust matters.

Shindler said he was quietly confident about the future of the office as Switzerland has a stable society, a stable economy and is a very efficient jurisdiction to work in.