David Mayhew, senior partner of Cazenove and one of the most highly regarded and powerful figures in the City of London, is planning to retire from the broking firm over the next 12 to 18 months.

Mayhew, 59, has spent most of his career as a corporate broker at Cazenove, where he has been involved in some of the biggest and most controversial of takeovers and mergers, including the Guinness takeover of Distillers. He advised Forte on its defence against Granada was involved in the Glaxo SmithKline Beecham merger was caught up in the NatWest bid, and is advising the London Stock Exchange on its demutualisation.