As market speculation around the potential tie-up between SJ Berwin and King & Wood Mallesons went strangely quiet this week, attention instead refocused very much closer to home. Well, 400 miles away from London, but still distinctly closer than Asia. 

The reason? Ashurst's decision to build a low-cost back office and legal support centre in Glasgow, which puts the job security of some 350 support staff in London under threat but, at the same time, promises to bring roughly 150 new jobs to Scotland within the next 12 months. 

And, given the recent upheaval in the Scottish legal market, some might say this second point is no bad thing. 

It is of course nothing new for City and international firms to cut costs through launching such centres in cheaper locations. What is new though is the location. Where once Clifford Chance went to India, and Bakers went to Manila, the locations of choice these days are distinctly less exotic, with even equally grey Belfast – the preferred choice of both Herbert Smith and Allen & Overy (A&O) – seemingly now passe.

Ashurst's decision makes it the first international law firm to head north of the border with backing from development agency Scottish Enterprise, which has followed Invest Northern Ireland's lead by offering a hefty grant of