Norton Rose Fulbright has announced it is launching a global service centre in the Philippines, with the plan to place 170 operational roles, or approximately five percent of the firm’s global workforce, there.

The move is part of the firm's 2020 business transformation strategy to “standardise and improve its business operations processes and systems,” according to the UK’s Legal Business website.

Norton Rose Fulbright, with 1,200 partners, posted a three percent fall in revenues and a six percent decrease in profit per equity partner in 2015, said the report. The Manila centre, which is expected to open in September, will provide business support services in marketing, HR, knowledge management and libraries, document production, finance, IT and compliance.

The announcement follows on the heels of a recent decision by DLA Piper to cut 200 business support jobs in the UK. In an effort to improve operational efficiencies, other UK firms, including Allen & Overy, Herbert Smith Freehills and Ashurst, have also opened low-cost support centres since the 2008 banking crisis.