Ince & Co international senior partner Jan Heuvels has stepped down from his firmwide leadership role, six months before his four-year term was due to end.

Huevels, who has held the top role since January 2015, relocated to Hong Kong in October 2017. He will remain a partner at Ince but will now concentrate on leading the firm's Asia growth plan.

Former international senior partner Peter Rogan, who held the role between 2000 and 2008, will step in as interim chair of Ince's board and will oversee the election of a new senior partner.

Heuvels said: "The time is right for me to pass on the leadership baton of the firm and I will continue to spearhead our Asia growth plan from Hong Kong. It has been an honour for me to lead Ince & Co since 2015 and I look forward to working closely with our new international senior partner following their appointment."

Rogan added: "On behalf of all our people, I want to thank Jan for his commitment to leading Ince & Co over the last three years. As international senior partner, he has successfully overseen the delivery of a number of strategically important initiatives that have significantly modernised the structure and working practices of our firm."

The news comes after Ince reported that its  international revenue fell from £88.5m to £83.4m, while UK revenue dropped by 11% from £48m to £42.8m in 2017-18. The firm did not report a profit figure or profit per equity partner (PEP); however, it did confirm that equity partner numbers had fallen from 82 to 76.

The results followed a redundancy consultation in in London, which saw 25 business services roles and seven fee earner roles cut. Three further roles are still part of the consultation, including one managing associate who Ince is looking to relocate to one of its international offices. The redundancies included one salaried partner.

Meanwhile, in June it was reported that Ince was paying half of its autumn intake of trainees £7,000 to defer their start dates by a year. Five of the firm's autumn intake will now begin their training contracts in 2019, in a move understood to be linked to the redundancy consultation.