Seddons and Lawrence Stephens have called off their merger that had been set to complete in October.

The deal planned to see the Portman Square and Farringdon firms come together in a new London premises with more than 180 staff and a £25 million turnover.

In a statement today, the firms said they had agreed mutually to discontinue with merger talks.

It read: ‘Together we have concluded that, while a merger between our firms presented an attractive opportunity with clear benefits for our clients and our people, ongoing negotiations highlighted considerations that prevented further progress.

‘For both our firms, this merger represented an exciting opportunity rather than a business need. We remain on excellent terms and we will now focus again on our respective growth plans to capitalise on the strong momentum that we are both enjoying.’