Latham & Watkins is to set a new business services centre in Manchester as the firm looks to build support capacity to keep up with its growth in Europe.

The new centre adds to an existing global service base in Los Angeles, which has been operational for more than a decade.

It will focus on business services and will initially house finance and technology roles. No positions will be lost in London as a result of the new centre but fewer than five staff elsewhere in Europe may be affected by either redundancy or relocation.

The centre is due to open at some point in the first half of 2015. The firm has no set headcount target, but is anticipating having 20 to 25 staff at the centre by the end of its first year in operation.

Latham's chief administrative officer for Europe Rod Harrington said: "This investment in our European infrastructure is a response to the growth of the firm outside the US, in particular in Europe."

"We are excited by the prospect of opening in Manchester. For a global business, the city has a large and highly qualified talent pool and offers ease of access to and from our offices in Europe and around the world."

The firm has been one of the most successful US firms to make strides into the UK in recent years, taking the London Office of the Year prize at the British Legal Awards in 2014.

The new centre makes it the latest in a string of firms to open low-cost support centres outside the capital. Herbert Smith Freehills, Baker & McKenzie and Allen & Overy are in Belfast, while Ashurst is in Glasgow. Berwin Leighton Paisner has a base in Manchester.