Smoosmiths Belfast partners Gillian Crotty, Sarah Ewing, Jason Byrne and John Palmer

Shoosmiths is scaling up its Northern Ireland operations by relocating its lawyers to larger premises.

The move sees the firm relocate staff from its current space on Montgomery Street to Belfast's East Bridge Street, adding approximately 2,620 sq ft to its regional footprint.

The 6,620 sq ft office features a 410 sq ft terrace along with seven individually themed meeting rooms and will accommodate 60 staff.

Shoosmiths first launched in Belfast in December 2016, merging with local firm McManus Kearney. The firm quickly outgrew its 3,000 sq ft space in Montgomery Street, according to a person with knowledge of the move, taking on additional space of about 1,000 sq ft in another building, housing 34 desks across both sites.

Belfast office head Jason Byrne said in a statement: "The firm as a whole has an ambitious growth strategy, and the Belfast office has its own role to play in delivering on that vision.

"Since Shoosmiths entered the Northern Irish market we have been primarily focused on recoveries and commercial financial services, but two recent real estate partners have seen us move into new territory to expand our legal services. This is just the tip of the iceberg and these offices will give us a springboard to attract further talent across all of our divisions."

Earlier this year, Shoosmiths opened a new office in Sheffield, taking on 1,520 sq ft of space, while also expanding its operations in Milton Keynes office to a larger, 20,000 sq ft commercial property in the town centre, in line with the firm's growth in the region.

Several firms have been looking to break into the Northern Ireland market recently, with U.K. top 50 insurance specialist Keoghs announcing its launch in the region in May.