Irwin Mitchell is to open its second new UK office of 2014 when it launches in Cambridge in June.

The firm, which officially opened its most recent base in Southampton last week, is relocating Sheffield partner Neil Whiteley to head up the Cambridge offering, which will initially focus on serious injury and military law work.

Whiteley – who has a number of clients in the city and the East Anglian region – will be joined by Simon Harrington and London-based asbestos-related disease partner Rosemary Giles.

Irwin Mitchell said it intends to expand the office to offer family law, clinical negligence, public law and Court of Protection work.

"We have assessed the market in Cambridge carefully for some time before we took this decision," said Irwin Mitchell group chief executive Andrew Tucker. "Clearly, we would not be making this move unless we were confident we can repeat the significant success we have had in opening other regional offices.

"We see Cambridge as an important regional centre with a vibrant economy where we believe we will rapidly build a share of the market quickly, building our team with recruitment locally."

The news comes shortly after a major vote of confidence in the firm from HSBC, Lloyds Bank and the Royal Bank of Scotland, which agreed to a four-year, £60m bank loan to fund Irwin Mitchell's growth plans.

Other major firms currently in Cambridge include Taylor Wessing, which has a four partner office focused on corporate and IP matters, and Mills & Reeve, which boasts a combined lawyer and staff headcount of almost 300.

Eversheds also has a base in the city, headed by employment partner Simon Tytherleigh.

Aside from Cambridge and Southampton, Irwin Mitchell has offices in Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, London, Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle, an association in Glasgow, and a consulting office in Leicester.