Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer – the last remaining magic circle outfit located in London’s traditional legal centre – has declined to comment on reports that it is to move into the heart of the City.

Reports today say the firm will relocate its headquarters from Fleet Street to 100 Bishopsgate – a stone’s throw from Liverpool Street station and close to its main City rivals.

The firm’s lease in Fleet Street reportedly expires in 2021 but new skyscraper accommodation is said to be being prepared for occupation in 2018.

The firm outsourced several business functions to a new Manchester office last year. But the reports suggest the firm is planning to take out an option on 300,000 sq ft of office space at the prospective new home.

The forty-storey tower is anchored by contiguous podium floors, in excess of 44,000 sq ft each, with 36 floors ranging from 19,000 to 25,000 sq ft.

The Evening Standard reported last year that developer Brookfield had taken the unprecedented step to build without signed leases for at least some of the floors. In November 2015 Brookfield announced it had let the first seven floors to the Royal Bank of Canada.