TKB shuts up shop in Brussels

CITY firm Turner Kenneth Brown has closed the doors on its Brussels office and returned its two resident fee-earners to London.

The office, closed at Christmas, was the only remaining international practice operated by the firm, which is currently in merger talks with Nabarro Nathanson.

Early last year it shut down its Hong Kong office and the team, which included three partners, two assistants and a trainee, moved over to build a local practice for Wilde Sapte.

TKB marketing partner Rhidian Jones says the Belgian office was closed because "basically, we thought we could do what we needed to do for the clients from London".

"When we set it up we felt we had to be on the ground, within spitting distance of the Commission, in order to be in touch with what was going on," says Jones.

"But now we have been able to consolidate the expertise of the firm's European lawyers in one spot, which we think will in fact improve the service we give to clients.

"It's not our policy to have foreign offices of our own, but we do wish to service the clients with good local advice.

"We've worked on the principle that we can achieve what we want to by improved communications through associations and by other means."