Norton Rose Fulbright is set to move nearly 60 London support jobs to Manila in the Philippines as it relocates 170 jobs worldwide.

The firm announced today that it is opening a business services centre in Manila in September to handle marketing, business development, HR, document production, IT, finance, compliance and knowledge management work.

Some 170 roles globally will be affected, equating to roughly 5% of the firm's global support services jobs. The Americas will be hardest hit, with 53% of the 170 roles expected to move currently based in the region (36% in Canada and 17% in the US). Roughly 32% of the roles are based in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), where London is the primary target, and 15% are in Asia-Pacific.

In a statement, the firm said that a consultation process will begin shortly with business support staff whose jobs may be affected. In London, 59 roles are included in the consultation process, which is understood to be around 10% of the firm's total London support staff.

The roles will be moved to Manila during the next five months.

Mark Whitley, the firm's global chief operating officer, said: "This change will mean that we will have to take some tough decisions regarding our people. We fully appreciate that this will be a difficult time for some of them.

"We will do everything we can to provide support to those affected, ensuring that they are treated in a sensitive and respectful way."

According to Whitley, the move is part of the firm's 2020 business transformation strategy, which has the goal of creating a "globally integrated and efficient service". The centre, with a dedicated team of about 170 people, will service the firm's global offices across Australia, EMEA, Canada and the US.

Norton Rose operates a Swiss verein structure, maintaining separate profit centres but sharing costs.

A Norton Rose spokesperson said the firm had conducted "an extensive review" before deciding on the moves.

She added: "The criteria we used to select our preferred locations were quality, risk and cost and, having considered all options, we decided that Manila best fulfilled our criteria. Manila is a business service hub, with a well-developed infrastructure, a large, English-speaking labour pool and a strong professional services culture."

Last week, DLA Piper announced that it is to cut up to 200 jobs from its UK business services team following a review.

The firm has recently opened a business services centre in Warsaw and plans to move some jobs there, while others will be replaced by automation.

Other UK firms to create back office support centres include Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, which has a support centre in Manchester and is aiming to launch a second in Vancouver; Herbert Smith Freehills and Allen & Overy, which both opened support centres in Belfast; and Linklaters, which moved ten support roles to Warsaw last year.