By: Maria Ward-Brennan

Professional Services Editor Maria Ward-Brennan is the Professional Services Editor at City AM, focused on law, Big Four, and other management and accounting consulting firms. She edits the Beyond The Billable newsletter and column. She was previously a litigation reporter at The Lawyer. Contact her via email at maria.ward-brennan@cityam.com or on X @MariaW_B.

All 1686 Articles

City law firm Shoosmiths invests extra £1m in firm’s bonus pot

June 8, 2026

City law firm Shoosmiths has doubled down on its commitment to AI after setting aside a second £1m for its bonus pot to help staff become AI-fluent through its new internal accreditation programme, City AM can reveal. Last year, the firm exclusively told City AM that it set a “clear and ambitious annual target” of one million [...]
Debenhams and Revolution unveil new beauty collaboration

June 8, 2026

Fast-fashion retailer Debenhams has formalised a royalty-based licensing partnership with Revolution Beauty to develop and distribute beauty and fragrance products across Debenhams’ brand portfolio. The first collections are expected to launch ahead of Christmas, featuring fragrance and gifting lines for PrettyLittleThing, Karen Millen, and boohooMAN. While further beauty and fragrance launches are planned across a [...]
Deputy PM to unveil AI labs to drag legal sector out of ‘analogue’ age

June 8, 2026

The UK government is launching a new AI growth project aimed squarely at dragging the UK’s billion-pound legal sector out of its “analogue” age. Ahead of London Tech Week, City AM can reveal that Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy will unveil ‘AI growth labs’, a regulatory safe space designed to cut through bureaucratic red tape [...]
City law firm boosts junior lawyer salaries to £189k in London

June 5, 2026

City-based law firm Quinn Emanuel has increased salaries for its most junior lawyers by 5 per cent for the 2026 financial year, as its London office aligns with pay increases at its US counterparts. Effective from 1 July 2026, London associates’ salaries will increase 5 per cent across the board, with newly-qualified (NQ) lawyers set [...]
KPMG scraps summer early Friday finish for staff

June 5, 2026

Big Four giant KPMG is revoking its Covid-19 employee benefit of letting staff clock off early on Fridays over the summer in the latest cut at the firm. The firm introduced the policy in 2021, focused on the summer, which is a quieter time in the City, to allow staff to take two and a [...]
Lex Greensill banned as company director for nine years after multi-billion-pound collapse

June 4, 2026

The UK Insolvency Service has confirmed that financier Lex Greensill will face a nine-year ban from serving as a company director, after he signed a legally binding disqualification undertaking to resolve long-running enforcement proceedings just days before a scheduled High Court trial. The Insolvency Service, which opened its probe into him in 2022, filed a [...]
Mishcon de Reya to roll out new ‘bonus boost’ for associates

June 4, 2026

City law firm Mishcon de Reya is offering its staff a ‘bonus boost’ for working additional hours to remain competitive in the legal pay race, City AM understands. The law firm has added a new ‘bonus boost’ to its pay structure, which will take effect in July 2027, for lawyers who record hours significantly above [...]
Millions left unclaimed as public awareness gap exposes flaws in class actions

June 4, 2026

While class actions are on the rise, limited public awareness means millions in settlement funds go unclaimed, highlighting the scepticism over who truly benefits from these legal actions, writes Maria Ward-Brennan. Despite the surge in class actions in the London High Court over the last number of years, there remains a large knowledge gap among [...]
Staff burnout soars in professional services due to inefficiencies and outdated IT

June 3, 2026

More than a quarter of client-facing staff at professional services firms are wasting a large portion of their working week on manual administrative tasks rather than core client work, according to new research by Unit4. The report, commissioned by Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC), on global mid-to-large professional services firms, including those in the UK, revealed [...]
Number of private school pupils plummets after Labour’s VAT hike on fees

June 3, 2026

Private school pupil numbers have plummeted by 30,000, down nearly 7 per cent in some year groups, since Labour introduced VAT on fees. As of 1 January 2025, private school fees in the UK, including tuition and boarding, are subject to 20 per cent VAT, a change announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her 2024 [...]

England Rugby in first ever back-of-shirt deal with £5m a year Lloyds signing

England Rugby in first ever back-of-shirt deal with £5m a year Lloyds signing

Open House Festival: The best guided walks in the Square Mile

By: Maria Ward-Brennan

All 1686 Articles

Subscribe