City law firm Farrer & Co is to outsource all of its back-office functions to services provider Intelligent Office UK.

The move will see 23 administrative and back-office staff, including those in mailroom and archive filing services, transferred to Intelligent Office.

The staff will continue to work at Farrers' central London offices in Lincoln's Inn Fields and a further three people will join the team onsite.

Intelligent Office specialises in office services for the legal sector and already has outsourcing agreements with Clarke Willmott, HBJ Gateley Wareing, White & Case and Wiggin.

Intelligent Office chief executive Margaret Lang said the move would allow Farrers to focus on its clients.

She said: "Farrers is a significant client for us, and not just in terms of size. They are held in high regard and have a fantastic history – we are delighted to be working with such a prestigious name in the London market."

A number of major UK firms such as Allen & Overy already outsource some back-office functions to India, although it remains relatively rare for smaller UK firms to make such a move.

The news comes in the same week as Ben Bennett, executive officer and European counsel at real estate giant Cushman & Wakefield, announced that he was to join Farrers as its new chief operating officer.