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.

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Big Four giants poised to benefit from booming tech consulting spend

November 24, 2025

The technology consulting market is anticipated to grow by 7 per cent in 2026, reaching over $400bn (£312bn) as businesses race to upgrade legacy infrastructure to align with new tech. According to a new report by Source Global Research, technology consultants are in high demand, with the market growing 4 per cent in 2024 and expected [...]
New York law firm Cohen & Gresser in talks over £30m private equity deal

November 24, 2025

New York law firm Cohen & Gresser is in talks to sell a stake to a private equity group, weeks after McDermott Will & Schulte expressed interest in restructuring the firm to secure outside funding. The firm has been in talks around the sale of a $40m (£30.5m) convertible note that would ultimately be swapped [...]
Clifford Chance AI-driven redundancies hit London business service roles

November 21, 2025

Law firm Clifford Chance is preparing for dozens of redundancies after launching a restructuring of its London business services team. Around 10 per cent of the 550 employees are set to lose their jobs, according to the Financial Times. It was reported that the magic circle firm told staff last month that greater use of [...]
Reeves vows to halve consultancy bill, but government can’t track its spending

November 21, 2025

Despite the government setting an ambitious target to halve overall spending on consultants, a new report suggests, the lack of consistent data hinders efforts to track progress toward spending targets. Rachel Reeves has set targets to halve the UK government’s overall spending on consultants in 2025-26 and to save £550m in 2024-25, aiming for £700m [...]
Money talks, but culture counts in transatlantic law firm tie-ups

November 20, 2025

A merger between a notable US outfit and a UK-headquartered legal firm used to be a rare event, but with the focus on global dominance, these strategic moves are now attracting more attention – as more firms begin to follow suit. This week, London-based Ashurst agreed to merge with Seattle-based Perkins Coie, and overnight it [...]
Backlogs and political attacks risk erosion of rule of law, Lords claim

November 20, 2025

The rule of law in the UK is being weakened, and everyone must take steps to protect it against further erosion, says a damming House of Lords report. The ‘Rule of law: holding the line between anarchy and tyranny’ report, published on Thursday, identified three areas contributing to the decline: social/cultural erosion, institutional failings in [...]
AIG dropped John Neal’s appointment after ‘alleged workplace relationship’

November 19, 2025

The former chief executive of Lloyd’s of London, John Neal, had his offer from AIG pulled after alleged inappropriate workplace relationship came to light. Neal was in a leadership position at Lloyd’s for over six years, having joined from QBE, where he was the group CEO for over five years. He was set to join Aon as [...]
Uplift in patrols: West End businesses fund major Christmas crime crackdown

November 19, 2025

The largest single private-sector investment in enhanced security and policing in London’s West End was launched, involving over 600 businesses in the busy section of the capital. Operation West End, an initiative from the New West End Company, which represents over 600 West End businesses, including on Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street, works [...]
HP pursues Lynch estate for £1.35bn as tech giant forks out £150m in legal bills

November 18, 2025

The High Court heard that the estate of British technology tycoon Mike Lynch should be liable to pay more than £1.35bn to Hewlett-Packard (HP) over fraud linked to the sale of Autonomy. Lynch, who founded software firm Autonomy in 1996, sold it to HP in 2012 for $11.1bn, but after a bust-up over allegations of [...]
Company directors now required to verify identity under new rules

November 18, 2025

In one of the biggest changes at Companies House for years, its new ID powers kicked in today – forcing company directors to verify their identity or risk facing new enforcement powers. Starting from 18 November, anyone who becomes a company director or person with significant control will need to verify their identity via GOV.UK [...]

Nvidia shares set to slide as spy scandal threatens AI recovery

Women’s football doesn’t need to become men’s football to succeed

Tamdhu: The scotch whisky taking on Macallan

By: Maria Ward-Brennan

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