SG Hambros Private Banking, part of the French bank Société Genérale, is opening offices in Edinburgh and Manchester for the first time, as part of private banks’ continued regional expansion in the UK, WealthBriefing understands.

One person has already been recruited for the Manchester office and two staff have been hired for the Edinburgh office, WealthBriefing was told by a source familiar with the matter.

Both offices will start operations in the New Year.

The opening of new offices adds to moves made by a number of other private banks to expand into the UK regions, including areas not previously regarded as wealth management hotspots, such as the UK northwest. Earlier this year, Credit Suisse opened an office in Birmingham, Kleinwort Benson announced the opening of a Leeds office recently and SG Hambros is also in the process of setting up a private banking office in the Leeds area.

As reported by WealthBriefing in late May, private banks say they are committed to broadening their regional presence and are determined not to suddenly cut back on such expansion because of a sudden worsening of the economic climate, as happened after the 1990s dotcom boom ended.