After taking the decision to move back-office staff out of its London headquarters to Manchester in a nearshoring exercise, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is taking the low-cost support model to new heights as it looks at potentially opening two further support outposts in Asia and the US to provide 24/7 legal support.
The news comes as the firm gears up to 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. The firm is currently hiring document specialist roles in its business department for the new office.
The firm said in the job advertisement that it hopes to ‘establish two further sites in addition to this first site in Manchester – one in the US and one in Asia-Pacific – giving our lawyers the worldwide 24/7 support they need to deliver excellent client service’.
Last month (21 May), the firm appointed Anup Kollanethu as its centre director for its combined legal and business services centre in Manchester, hiring him from Aviva Investors, where he was managing director of transformation and global shared services for the previous three years.
The news also follows the controversial transfer of its back office support team roles to Manchester decided on in February 2015. The move could see up to 800 roles being affected at the firm’s Fleet Street-based headquarters and the firm is currently undergoing consultations with its back office staff members.
jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk