A GLOBAL firm has chosen Southampton for its second UK office.

Crestbridge says it picked the city for its “diverse and skilled” labour market, transport links and the opportunity to build relationships with the community and universities.

The company, which provides administration services to private equity funds and real estate, will make the city a centre for fund administration technology and processes. The office will support operations in the UK, Ireland, mainland Europe and the US.

The office opened with four members of staff and the firm says it intends to create more roles this year and next.

Michael Johnson, group head of institutional services at Crestbridge, said: “Our new office in Southampton is very much part of our commitment to service and to quality.

“It will serve as an important hub for the continued operational support of our business and a key centre for the development of our people.

“The entire Crestbridge Group will benefit greatly from the service capabilities developed in Southampton and this investment demonstrates our ongoing commitment to the UK. We’re also committed to the local communities in which we operate, and we very much look forward to developing initiatives for our Southampton office that will provide excellent employment opportunities for young people, graduates and career professionals alike.”

Crestbridge has also approved a “secondee” programme for Southampton, enabling the new office to benefit from the experience of staff across the group.

It says the opening of the office shows its commitment to investing in the UK after Brexit as a gateway to European and global markets for asset managers and international investors.

Peter Taylor, president of Hampshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is excellent news and evidences the ever-growing strategic importance of the city and region to the UK.

“Business leaders and key stakeholders across Southampton, recognise the strategically important role which the city has both for the region but also nationally and internationally in a post-Brexit, post-Covid world. It is excellent to see that Crestbridge shares our enthusiasm to seize the opportunities we have.

“Collaboratively we can and will build on the strong foundations for future generations to live and work in the thriving city region.”

Southampton City Council leader Cllr Daniel Fitzhenry said: “This investment into our city comes at a really exciting time for Southampton. We have long established financial services companies based in the city already and it’s great to see that we continue to attract investment from this sector. Crestbridge will be bringing new knowledge-economy jobs to the city and crucially offer opportunities to graduates from our two world-class universities.”