National firm Pannone has announced that 12 jobs will be lost through the shutting of two satellite offices.

The cuts will be a mixture of secretarial and fee-earning roles at offices in the Cheshire villages of Hale and Alderley Edge.

Managing partner Emma Holt said the firm will concentrate on building its Manchester presence and growing the offices in Chancery Lane, London.

Holt said: ‘The decision to close the offices in Hale and Alderley Edge is based on our strategic plans to further enhance our national reputation across a wide range of disciplines and specialist niche areas. We believe that will be achieved by moving away from small local offices to expanding our presence in London.

‘The closures will regrettably result in a number of redundancies across secretarial and fee-earning roles and we are working closely with the individuals concerned.’

She added that the firm will launch a drive to recruit senior lawyers in the capital, where the firm opened a base for its regulatory and corporate crime team in 2010.

Clinical negligence partner Julianne Moore is relocating to London and will soon be joined by Steven Liddiard, formerly of the charity Action against Medical Accidents.