If venturing north of the M25 means you break out in cold sweat, the chances are you’ve never considered opportunities outside of the City of London. However, if a move beyond the Square Mile appeals, there are a decent number of front office roles available.

Working outside of London for financial professionals usually screams back office, but this is something of a misconception.

As well as investment banks – such as Rothschild, Close Brothers and Altium in Manchester – there’s also a fairly large private equity presence in the north of England including firms like Lloyds Development Capital (which has offices in Manchester, Newcastle and Leeds), Barclays Venture, Gresham Private Equity, ECI Partners, Inflexion, Infinity and ISIS. Then, of course, there’s the regional corporate finance divisions of the large accountancy firms.

Malcolm Coffin, assistant director at Inflexion in Manchester, worked within Rothschild’s consumer products M&A team in London before making the move northwards.

“The range of front office opportunities in Manchester is obviously smaller than London, but there are benefits,” he says. “You have far greater reach within the corporate finance community because of its size and the range of potential investment targets is very broad – both in terms of geographical coverage and industry type.”

Andy Clarke joined the Manchester office of investment bank Altium Capital in June and believes the quality of life offered in the city makes it an appealing place to work.

“It is certainly possible to build a career in investment banking in Manchester,” he says. “There are a number of banks and private equity houses who have offices in the city and given the size of the financial community relative to London, it is somewhat easier to develop strong relationships which assist you to progress in your career.”

Although the number of firms in places like Manchester is relatively prolific, the staff base is usually very small. Private equity firms have a typical headcount of 3-5, while even larger corporate finance teams comprise 10-15 people. So, how should you go about making the move?

“Because it’s a smaller nucleus of people, it’s very much about striking up the right relationship and fitting into the firm,” says Coffin. “I identified a small number of firms, got in touch and went up to meet them for lunch. It’s about deciding what you want from your career and focusing on the companies that can deliver it.”