CMS Cameron McKenna is to either lay off or relocate almost one third of its support staff as a result of its outsourcing agreement with Integreon.

The firm began informing staff internally about the final details of the agreement yesterday (24 January), with 9% of its current back office staff set to be made redundant as a result of the deal.

A further 21% of roles will be relocated to Integreon's offices in either Bristol or India, with the remaining 70% of the firm's 363 business services roles transferring to Integreon but remaining in London.

Both the redundancies and relocations will primarily affect support staff currently based at the firm's London office, meaning just over half of the City back office workforce could be affected. Around 33 of the office's 200 business support functions are likely to be at risk of redundancy (16% of the office total) with a further 76 (38%) up for relocation.

The remaining staff transferring to Integreon in London will remain in Camerons' Mitre House building, where Integreon has already rented a floor. It is unclear how much Integreon has paid Camerons to take over its business services function; however, Camerons will retain a nominal financial interest in Integreon as a result of the deal.

The deal is understood to cover all support functions with the exception of business development and communications.

Camerons expects there to be a total of 380 roles at Integreon, with a number of new roles to be created in London – an additional 12% on top of current support staff numbers.

The transfer is expected to happen on 1 April, with Camerons now carrying out an official staff consultation on the proposals, followed by separate consultations with individuals affected. Those staff moving to Integreon will be hired on their current salaries and have been told that there will be no changes to their contracts for two years.

Camerons' partnership gave its seal of approval to the deal in November following five months of due diligence after the initial agreement was signed in May 2010.

In an internal memo sent out yesterday (24 January), Camerons managing partner Duncan Weston said: "We are pleased to be moving forward with our plans to work with Integreon. Unfortunately, this will mean some redundancies in London as Integreon relocates and adds resources to Bristol and India, re-engineers processes and deploys new technology."

"The changing legal landscape requires constant innovation in the way we do business. This new approach to our business services will give us the ability to focus on our clients and provide a more sophisticated service. It creates greater flexibility to scale support services based on demand, and gives us access to a more advanced technology with the benefits of future investment by Integreon towards building a unified business model. It will also allow us the option to integrate our approach to business services across our international businesses."

Integreon CEO Liam Brown added: "Following an extensive diligence, consulting and transformation design process, we are delighted that CMS Cameron McKenna is moving forward with Integreon as the trusted provider of support services to their legal professionals. CMS has the highest standards and set us the goal of delivering best in class services. We are glad that we met their bar and look forward to a mutually rewarding, long-term relationship."

For the time being, the firm's international business services teams will be unaffected by the outsourcing. Of the 363 business services roles across the firm worldwide, around 200 are in London.

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