Nabarro Nathanson is to shut its Reading office following a strategic review.

As first revealed on www.thelawyer.com (21 April), the firm will relocate all seven partners to London and has offered jobs in the capital to all of Reading’s 41 staff and lawyers.

The office, which contributes around 5 per cent of total turnover, was launched 17 years ago to target Thames Valley technology clients.

As part of a firmwide strategic review, it was found that the nature of the Reading team’s clients and their legal needs had changed. Increasingly national or even international in profile, they are demanding a broader range of specialisms than the Reading office’s technology profile could deliver.

“It was found that, to properly satisfy client needs and to take the office forward, we’d need to double or triple the size of the Reading office, adding tax, employment, banking and finance,” Nab-arros senior partner Simon Johnston told The Lawyer.

As a consequence, it was decided that, rather than duplicate investment in London and Reading, the Thames Valley operation should relocate to the capital.

This, said Johnston, would allow Nabarros to better invest in and develop the key practice areas identified by the firm at the strategic review – namely corporate, corporate finance, commercial litigation and projects.