City aristocrats muscle in on provincial finance as local firms seek new pastures ;CORPORATE FINANCE: Allure of London services forces rethink in Manchester and Birmingham ;City law firms are winning a greater share of corporate finance deals from their provincial rivals across the UK, forcing regional firms to look outside their traditional hunting ground for work, a survey of professional service firms has revealed.

; Top 20 London law firms have significantly increased their share ;of Scottish corporate finance deals, by value of transactions, from 45.6% in 1993 to 80.4% in 1999, revealed the survey by professional lobbying groups Birmingham Forward and pro.manchester.

;Regional law firms are also losing out on work in the north-west.

In 1993, regional firms handled 18.9% of deals, but that figure has now fallen to 7.4%.

However, the figures remained fairly static in the west midlands and Yorkshire.

;Wragge & Co was nominated the most active corporate finance firm in the west midlands, with 8.8% of the deals by number; DLA led in Manchester (10%); Hammond Suddards Edge in Leeds (8.4%); and Maclay Murray & Spens in Scotland (9%).

However by value of deals, City giants Slaughter and May (in ;the west midlands and north ;west) and Linklaters (in Yorkshire and Scotland) were clear of ;the pack.

;Across the regions, there is a strong pattern of City firms advising on the biggest deals by value even though local firms advise on many more by number.

;Manchester-based Eversheds partner Edward Pysden, a former chairman of pro.Manchester, said: The report confirms what we already knew that there are still too many deals being handled in London, although this is gradually changing.

He said his firm was also now challenging City firms for work from merchant banks.

;Despite the results in the corporate finance deals tables, increasing market share was only the number two priority for most professional firms.

The biggest worry continues to be recruitment and retention, with competition, and economic and market conditions coming third and fourth.

;Birmingham Forwards chief executive, John James, a consultant at Hammond Suddards Edge and head of Birminghams new College of Law, said the quality of work had improved, which would help with recruitment.

But he added: One has to be realistic about the attraction of capital cities.

;Provincial firms are now pulling in an increasing amount of work from outside their localities.

Birmingham firms are getting 40% of their business from outside the region, with Manchester firms going outside the city for 44% of their business.

;Mr James said the move to win work outside their natural catchment area is very encouraging.

He gave Birmingham firm Wragge & Cos win of bulk work from British Airways earlier this year as an example of the trend.

;The survey indicated that the average leading law firm employs 281 people in Birmingham and 134 in Manchester, with 154 and 63 fee-earners respectively.

;See Editorial, page16 ;Anne Mizzi