EAST Anglian law firm Birketts LLP has announced the opening of a Cambridge office, in the heart of the city's professional services district. Complementing its original base in Ipswich and its Norwich office which opened in 2004, the latest move is described by the firm as another step towards a goal of becoming the leading regional law firm in the East of England.

EAST Anglian law firm Birketts LLP has announced the opening of a Cambridge office, in the heart of the city's professional services district.

Complementing its original base in Ipswich and its Norwich office which opened in 2004, the latest move is described by the firm as another step towards a goal of becoming the leading regional law firm in the East of England.

Alistair Lang, chief executive at Birketts: said: “We are an ambitious firm and Cambridge, where we already have many relationships, is an obvious next step for us. The city is a hub of business decision-taking and for us to meet our aspirations we need to be part of that community.”

Adrian Seagers and Jonathan Greenhalgh, both already well-known to the business world in Cambridge, will be the lead partners for corporate and commercial property respectively in the new office. They will be joined by Paul Hughes, an expert on EU competition law, and by Adrian Possener, Birketts' public companies expert.

“We already have excellent links with the professional community in Cambridge, and look forward to building further on these relationships once we are established in Station Road,” said Mr Seagers.

Birketts LLP is a 38 partner law firm with approximately 275 staff split between the current Norfolk and Suffolk offices. The firm has a strong presence in the commercial property and corporate finance arenas and is also experiencing rapid growth of its private client division, particularly its specialist rural business team.

“Add logistics and shipping to the mix and you have a firm at the heart of the region's economy,” added Mr Lang, who until 2001 was regional director for Bank of Scotland.

“As a firm equipped to offer a real and dynamic alternative to the established players in the market place in the west of the region, we are all looking forward to building on our existing ties with the market and adding quickly to our teams in the city.”