Olswang has deferred its September trainee intake and cancelled its 2013 London recruitment round to reduce the firm's trainee numbers due to "changes in client demand".

The City firm's September 2011 trainees will now start their contracts in 2012, with the 2012 intake deferred until 2013.

Meanwhile, the firm has called off its 2013 London recruitment round, with the next round of training contract vacancies delayed until September 2014 and March 2015. Deferred trainees will be offered the option to study an MA in Law at BPP.

On average the firm takes on 22 trainees in the City each year, but is now looking to reduce this number.

The firm's Thames Valley trainees will be unaffected by the deferrals.

In a statement, the firm said: "We have made the decision to defer the intake of our future trainees due to join Olswang from September 2011; the aim is to reduce our overall trainee numbers over time from our current levels. The deferral programme means that we will not be commencing with the Work Placement Scheme at our London office this year and will next be recruiting for our London office for training contracts starting in September 2014 and March 2015."

"Along with our competitors, we have seen a change in client demands and this has resulted in a change in our resourcing requirements, particularly at trainee level. We want to ensure that our trainees get consistently excellent experience and on-the-job training during their training contracts, in addition to the required formal training, and we feel that a smaller trainee body will allow us to ensure this consistently as the legal market continues to change."

In June 2010 Legal Week reported low retention rates for Olswang, with the firm keeping on just 14 of 24 newly-qualified lawyers in its September 2010 intake, equating to a retention rate of 58%.

The firm said that it did offer 19 places to its trainees, but that some departments were oversubscribed.

At the time an Olswang spokesperson said: "We have a commitment to help our trainees pursue the area of law that genuinely interests them. Our experience shows that trainees that take 'whatever is offered' generally do not prosper in the long term, which is not good for them or the business."