Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has appointed Anup Kollanethu as centre director for its combined legal and business services centre in Manchester having signed a lease for space in Arndale House.
Kollanethu joins Freshfields after spending the last 12 years at Aviva Investors, where he was managing director of transformation and global shared services for the last three years, and chief operating officer of Asia Pacific and its director of global operations transformation from 2008 until 2011.
Corporate partner Gareth Stephenson, who is responsible for the Manchester launch and has been leading the pilot project in London for the past 18 months, will work closely with Kollanethu.
Freshfields will open its doors in Manchester in the second half of this year having signed a lease to take up 40,000 sq ft at Arndale House from July 2015. There are then plans to grow the centre further in 2016.
Freshfields’ managing partner David Aitman said in a release: ‘Anup’s extensive experience in building and managing shared services centres, together with his business and technology acumen will be of great value to us in establishing our Manchester office. We are delighted to have him on board.’
Anup Kollanethu added: ‘I am very excited to join Freshfields as the firm launches this project. Having the chance to demonstrate the value shared services operations can bring to an elite law firm is a fantastic opportunity. I am confident that the centre will enhance the quality of how we work for and with our clients globally.’
jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk
