Birmingham Law Society is to retain its Temple Street headquarters in a back to basics move to serve the legal community.

The building, owned outright by the society, is something of a rambling entity somewhat in need of an upgrade.

But that would require big money and a debate has raged as to whether it should stick with what it has or sell up and rent more modern user-friendly premises.

Law Society president Richard Follis says the decision has been taken to stay.

The pride of the society is its legal library and associated services it provides for members. Mr Follis points out that the complex could not be better situated.

"It is in the centre of the legal community and we are in walking distance for the major law firms in Birmingham."

The likes of Pinsent Mason, Wragge & Co and Eversheds are all nearby And there is another reason.

Mr Follis said: "The major law firms provide us with the greatest financial support. We owe it to them to say close-by."

The building, he points out, is also roughly equidistant between New Street and Snow Hill railway stations, and hence has further convenience value.

And because it is its own, the society can control operating costs. It is structurally sound, he says, and has rental income from a bank and a document exchange business which have taken part of the premises.

Were the society to, say, go to Eastside it would lose that rental income, points out Mr Follis.

The society, he says, has decided it does not want to "move into a smart, rented modern office and increase our cost base".

He went on: "Birmingham Law Society is not about bricks and mortar - it is about know-how."

And he says that where there is a need for greater facilities, such as in the staging of mock trials, an offer has come in from a further education college to help out.

The society will probably pick up the offer in due course. "It would be nice to have pristine training suites on site but it is not that that Birmingham Law Society depends upon for its effectiveness."