Top 50 firm hires Barlows insurance partner for launch of first office outside UK

Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC) is set to launch its first-ever international office in Singapore with the hire of a partner from Barlow 
Lyde & Gilbert.

The firm's new Singapore arm is set to go live on 
1 November this year, with Barlows' local insurance and reinsurance chief Mark Errington joining to head up the office.

The move comes as the firm increasingly targets the insurance market in the region, with growing numbers of insurers setting up a presence in Singapore as an access point for the wider Asia market. RPC is planning to grow the office at both partner and associate level through a combination of hires and relocations over the coming months.

RPC managing partner Jonathan Watmough said: "Singapore is a critical market for insurers, as it is the hub for Lloyd's to write business in Asia and many of our insurance clients are there. The fact that it is a growing arbitration centre for the region is also important for us.

"We have never ruled out opening international offices – it was just a question of where and when, and we wanted to make sure that we were responding to client demand, not just looking to plant flags. We are now seeing that demand."

Errington has been at Barlows since February 2010 and specialises in complex policy coverage and subrogated recovery actions.

He is the second Barlows partner to quit for RPC since the firm announced merger talks with Clyde & Co in June this year, after insurance partner Victoria Sherratt joined RPC's London office earlier this month.

The Singapore launch marks RPC's first venture outside the UK and will be its third office worldwide, following the recent news that the firm is set to open a base in Bristol with the hire of a seven-partner insurance team from CMS Cameron McKenna's local arm.

A number of other UK law firms have recently bulked up their presences in Singapore, including Watson Farley & Williams, which set up a local law practice via a joint venture with regional firm Asia Practice earlier this month, adding to its existing base in the region.