Online bank Starling is today cutting the ribbon on its new office in UK town Southampton as it looks to bolster its operational resources.
The office will employ 150 people, comprising 50 software engineers and 100 customer service staff, the majority of which will be new hires.
Like other challenger banks, such as Revolut which has just announced plans to open an operations centre in Portugal, Starling has seen its customer base outgrow its existing resources. Founded five years ago, it now has over 800,000 current account holders and 30,000 business customers.
"We are growing so fast that we are rapidly running out of space in our London office," said CEO Anne Boden.
Starling is also following through on its stated aim to expand its presence outside of London and its decision to set up an office in Southampton is a boon for the south coast town which is looking to develop its own fintech presence.
One of the objectives for Starling's Southampton office is to help it set up a business bank aimed at sole traders, startups and SMEs, said Boden.