Get in contact
Business services
The business services sector is a growing sector, and the city region is looking to continue to develop its growth over coming years. The sector already employs over 170,000 people across a wide range of activities including insurance, corporate finance, law and accountancy and public administration.
For business services, the Portsmouth city region continues to grow in popularity, offering the skilled workforce, connectivity and business environment to support the ongoing growth of the sector. A number of companies have recognised the enormous potential that the city region has to offer, with investors including Zurich Insurance for its UK HQ, Lloyds TSB, Cheltenham & Gloucester, Blake Lapthorn and The Listening Company.
The most recent investor is Handelsbanken, founded in 1871 and one of Sweden's leading banks with over 700 branches worldwide and over 60 in Great Britain. Paul Mlinar, Branch Manager at Handelsbanken, says “We were covering the Portsmouth area from our office in Southampton resulting in a successful level of business being written. This gave us the confidence to increase our local presence by opening the Portsmouth branch at 1000 Lakeside. We believe in growing our business in a safe and considered way with the emphasis on a very personal local relationship with individuals and businesses. Being based in Portsmouth has led to increased business, and our staff benefit from living and working in a great location – we are very proud to be here”.
