Law firms across the City have been beefing up security and asking staff to leave their suits at home ahead of expected violent demonstrations during the G20 summit next week.
Law firms across the City have been beefing up security and asking staff to leave their suits at home ahead of expected violent demonstrations during the G20 summit next week.
Many firms have asked staff to dress down next Wednesday and Thursday to avoid being marked out as City workers.
Clifford Chance employees have been warned to steer clear of the firm’s Coleman Street office during the summit and have been told to be prepared to work from home.
An associate at the firm said: “We’ve been sent an email which says staff should leave their suits at home and avoid going out of the office for lunch or entertaining clients during the expected disruptions.”
Meanwhile, Ashurst has urged its staff to use public transport rather than drive into work to avoid a similar attack to the one made on former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) chairman Sir Fred Goodwin’s car on Wednesday.
Suspected anarchists vandalised Goodwin’s home in Edinburgh and smashed the windows of his black Mercedes Benz in anger over Goodwin’s pension payout, which is worth about £700,000 a year.
A spokesman for Linklaters said: “We’re employing extra security staff for the demonstrations and have asked everyone to be aware of what’s going on and avoid going out of the office.”
Further protests are to take place outside the offices of RBS and there will be marches on ExCeL during the event.
Other action is expected to disrupt transport and cause chaos in the City in what many believe could be the biggest protests since the poll tax riots in the 1980s.
