KPMG has made two senior corporate partner hires from Eversheds Sutherland and Shoosmiths to ramp up its legal services offering across the UK.

M&A partner Richard Lewis, who has spent the past six years at Eversheds, has joined KPMG to head up its London corporate legal team.

Lewis started his career at Clifford Chance and joined Eversheds in 2012 after 10 years as a partner at legacy Lovells. He specialises in corporate finance, domestic and cross-border M&A, takeovers, demergers and joint ventures, and has worked with clients including Reckitt Benckiser, Merck and SEGRO.

Meanwhile, Shoosmiths partner Emma Gibson, who led the UK firm's corporate group in its Thames Valley office, has joined KPMG to establish a legal services hub in Reading as it targets more legal work across southern England.

The partners will work in tandem with KPMG's existing UK legal practices across London, the Midlands and the North. The big four firm, which was granted an alternative business structure licence in 2014, now has a UK team of approximately 100 legal professionals.

KPMG UK legal services head Nick Roome said: "Emma and Richard are high calibre lawyers at the top of their field and their arrival marks another milestone in the development of our legal services offering in both the UK and globally.

"We recognise that we are a challenger brand in the legal sector and disruption, not least from technology, is rife within our market. Having such quality talent will help us further embrace that change and provide the best support for clients."

The hires follow KPMG's recent addition of tax partner Matthew Herrington, who joined from US firm McDermott Will & Emery.

Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC have invested heavily in their legal services arms in recent years and now collectively employ about 8,500 lawyers globally. A recent study by ALM Intelligence warned that law firms should prepare for a "significant increase in competition" as the big four continue to ramp up their legal services offerings.