Withers has signed a lease for new, smaller London premises as the firm gears up to increase its use of agile working to reduce its City rent bill.

The firm has signed a lease for 60,000 sq ft at 20 Old Bailey, not far from its current London headquarters at 16 Old Bailey, where it occupies 69,134 sq ft.

Withers will has agreed a 15-year lease on the new offices, which it will move to in summer 2018.

The firm will take space across the ground floor and floors three and four of the building, which is currently being renovated by Blackstone Property Management.

To date, Withers has experimented with agile working in some of its teams, but expects to introduce more elements such as hot-desking when it moves to its new premises.

A report released by commercial property company CBRE in March revealed that the amount of new London leases taken up by the largest law firms in the capital fell by more than 50% last year, as trends including flexible working push law firms to rethink their real estate footprint.

The report, which canvassed the largest 100 law firms in London, revealed that the total space taken through new London law firm leases in 2016 was 499,900 sq ft – 55% down on 2015 and 36% below the 10-year average.

Withers recently announced an 8% revenue rise for 2016-17, up to £174.5m from £161.5m last year. The firm has grown consistently during the past 10 years, with revenues more than doubling since 2006-07.