Integreon president of business development John Croft has left the outsourcing giant to launch a UK arm for recently formed alternative legal services provider Elevate Services.

Croft, who joined Elevate as president yesterday (18 April), has launched the new operation in London, through which the company will target law firms and in-house legal departments across Europe. 

At Integreon, Croft was responsible for signing high-profile deals with law firms including CMS Cameron McKenna and Osborne Clarke, both of which have recently been revised. 

The move reunites Croft with Integreon founder Liam Brown, who set up Elevate in 2011. Meanwhile, former Integreon chief operating officer Lokendra Tomar is set to join Elevate in India as chief executive.

Elevate already has around 100 staff operating in the US and India providing a mix of back office outsourcing, volume legal support and more senior contract lawyers to corporates and law firms; however, Croft's hire is its first foray into Europe. 

Elevate is already working with US law firms such as Perkins Coie and has signed up several large corporates for its contract lawyer services ahead of its European launch. 

In addition to its staffing offering, the company has built cloud legal project management software to help firms budget and has formed a consulting practice to help in-house teams manage external legal spend. 

Croft said: "Clients are after more sophisticated services than ever before and I don't see the pressure letting up on managing partners any time soon to manage their businesses efficiently. We say 'you focus on being fabulous lawyers and we'll focus on getting the bills out'."