National firm Slater and Gordon is continuing its move to centralising services with planned cutbacks at its Birmingham office, the Gazette understands.

The firm has placed 12 fee earner roles at risk as it stops all non-personal injury operations from the city.

As has happened with closures in Leeds and Sheffield, the firm is moving to a new model where several services are run from central hubs in Manchester and Liverpool, with a more limited presence retained in a handful of other offices. The consolidation is a legacy of expansion drives by the previous owners, who bought several firms across the country and pursued a policy of spreading face-to-face operations to almost 20 sites.

A spokesperson for the firm said that alongside the development of digital platforms, Slater and Gordon has moved to a structure of specialised centres of excellence for consumer legal services.

She added: ‘This enables us to provide the very best possible service to our customers. We have identified that we can simplify our operations in line with this approach and consequently will be assessing whether to discontinue handling non-personal injury files in Birmingham.’

She explained that the firm’s Birmingham office will continue to service its growing personal injury business, and the proposal is to relocate the work from the 12 affected individuals to other locations across the UK.

She added: ‘We are working with our impacted colleagues to explore opportunities for them in alternative offices and we will ensure that customers see no change in the excellent service they receive throughout this process.’

The decision comes 13 months after Slater and Gordon announced it was expanding its Birmingham office to include a new family law team, headed by Joanne Green, who  transferred from the London office.