Ashurst has cut more London staff roles as part of a reorganisation of its support function, which led to secretarial positions being axed last year.

The latest cuts have affected between five and 10 positions in the firm's London-based department that handles its financial management, according to people familiar with the situation. The firm would not confirm the exact number of roles cut.

The decision follows the firm's introduction of three new job titles in its support function – practice executive, team executive and team assistant – in 2018, which led to 54 London secretarial roles being cut.

In a statement, a firm spokesperson said: "Over the last few years, we have been focused on how we best deliver and transform business services, as we did last year when we created a more advanced practice executive role and local service hubs.

"Now that this is embedded, we have continued to review processes and responsibilities in order to deliver services more effectively and efficiently. Certain back-office roles will now be undertaken by the hub, practice executives or from our Glasgow office, and in consequence of this, a very small number of roles in London have been made redundant. We continue to support affected staff through this process."

Other firms have made cuts among their staff ranks in recent years. In 2017, Pinsent Masons cut 78 legal PA roles, while Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer offered voluntary redundancy to its entire London secretarial workforce.

Last year, Ince & Co made 32 redundancies in London, with 25 business services roles and seven fee-earners cut.