The office is located in County Gates House. The office will offer private banking, asset management and financial planning to what Barclays Wealth says is an increasing number of high net worth and affluent clients across Dorset and the South of England from Dorchester to Portsmouth.

The move comes at a time when a number of private banks have set up offices across the UK to tap wealth outside their traditional hub in London and the South East of England.

The Household Wealth Index, developed by Barclays Wealth and the Economist Intelligence Unit, has predicted that the distribution of UK household wealth will change over the next 10 years. It predicts that by 2017 the number of UK £1 millionaire households will increase from 1.5 million in 2007 to more than 2.4 million, and the combined wealth will exceed £6.9 trillion .

“Equally, we know that Bournemouth alone tops the league of towns and cities experiencing the biggest growth in the number of new businesses in the last year, and that we are seeing more ‘blue chip’ firms locate here,” said Mark Kibblewhite, managing director, Barclays Wealth UK Private Bank.

“As a result, our new office means we can place ourselves at the heart of what is a growing wealth, financial, and business centre, and ensure we are better able to service our clients’ diversifying needs. Our primary objective is to spend an increasing amount of time with our valuable clients advising them and their families on their financial requirements,” he said.

He continued: "Our Household Wealth Index reveals that the UK will continue to outperform Europe and remain a significant centre for wealth generation over the next decade. We have an enterprising financial services sector, a favourable disposition to enterprise, flexible employment and a high GDP growth rate.”

The head of the Bournemouth office is Rob Jones.