Natalia Vygovskaya, an associate solicitor with law firm DLA Piper, has begun a six-month exchange at the firm's Leeds office.

Mrs Vygovskaya has experience working in English law as nearly half of the corporate deals which DLA Piper acts on in St Petersburg and Moscow are subject to English law.

Part of the reason the fluent English speaker chose DLA's Leeds offices over the capital, was that she has experience working with the Leeds corporate team.

"I also knew Leeds to be a dynamic city, a financial centre, and had often heard it described as the northern capital of the UK – while St Petersburg is regarded as the northern capital of Russia.

"Leeds has lived up to all my expectations. It is very friendly and I have received a lot of support since I've been here. Leeds is very lively and I particularly like the pedestrianised streets.

"I knew Yorkshire was economically vibrant, but the number of Yorkshire businesses that have an interest in operating in Russia and Central Europe has surprised me."

The time spent working with DLA's UK clients will help her when she returns to St Petersburg, she added.

And although Mrs Vygovskaya said English law is in many ways more flexible than Russian Federation law, there downsides to the move – she finds Leeds colder than St Petersburg and said the lawyers in DLA's Leeds office work longer hours than in Russia, although they often go running at lunchtime.

Natalia's husband Fedor is a tax consultant with Ernst & Young in St Petersburg and in May he will begin a similar secondment in London.