City law firm Clyde & Co has begun a restructuring consultation affecting around 200 Business services staff as part of a push to centralise support operations into regional hubs.
The firm is proposing to shift certain services from legal support, purchase-to-pay, and IT teams to its service centres in Glasgow and a third-party facility in Manila.
The Manila operation is run by Accenture, which serves as Clyde & Co’s external service centre partner for the offshored functions.
The restructuring plans were first reported by legal publication Rollonfriday before the firm confirmed the details of the proposed changes.
Chief executive Matthew Kelsall said the move “builds on similar changes already implemented in the Americas, Middle East and Asia-Pacific.”
Kelsall described the service centres as “a common feature of modern global professional services firms,” designed to deliver services through standardised processes and enhanced technology.
He said the model was intended to enable “a more efficient, scalable and resilient support model as our business continues to grow and client needs evolve.”
Kelsall acknowledged the difficulty the announcement would cause, adding that the firm recognises “that these proposals will be unsettling for colleagues affected, and we are committed to supporting them throughout this process.”
Clyde & Co, which is known for its work defending the insurance sector, recorded a global revenue of £854m for the financial year ending 30 April 2025.
The consultation arrives amid a broader wave of business services cuts across the UK legal sector, with investment in technology and AI frequently cited as a driving factor.
Earlier this month, A&O Shearman was reported to be cutting roles within its business services team at its London office, adding to the growing list of affected firms.
Magic circle firm Clifford Chance was reported in November to be cutting 10 per cent of its back-office roles in its City office, while Mishcon de Reya, BCLP, and Baker McKenzie have all made similar reductions over the past year.
Freshfields also launched a round of redundancies in September, targeting paralegals based in its Manchester office, underscoring how widely the trend has spread across firm sizes and practice areas.