FINNISH technology firm Hammerkit has chosen Liverpool as the site of its first UK office.

Hammerkit, which has developed an online software package to help people design websites, wants to break into the potentially massive UK market.

Managing director Mark Sorsa-Leslie says he chose Liverpool because of the city’s strong digital and creative sector, and because it provided a warm welcome to his company.

Hammerkit’s investment follows a concerted push by regeneration agency Liverpool Vision to attract hi-tech investment from Finland into Merseyside.

Mr Sorsa-Leslie said Hammerkit’s software was designed as a “tool for the web punk generation” to let people get websites online as quickly as possible. He said he chose to bring the company to Liverpool after a visit to the North West earlier this year.

Mr Sorsa-Leslie said: “We had already identified that we were going to go to the UK as the next major market, and were thinking about where we’d set up an office and whether we’d go to London.

“Then we got a call from our funder, Veraventure, which had been in contact with Liverpool.

“I talked to the people from Liverpool Science Park and liked what they were saying.

“Then we came to the UK and met Steve Smith, from Liverpool Vision. We went to see Manchester, MediaCity and then Liverpool, to get a feel for exactly what was going on.

“There were three really important things I noticed about the North West.

“Firstly, there was a very closely- connected and very well-networked industry in the region. For me, that felt really good because if we introduced ourselves to that market it would give us an opportunity to create very good commercial relationships really quite quickly.

“Secondly, there’s going to be an undoubted halo effect from MediaCity. The North West is probably going to be the most interesting place to be in the digital industries in Europe going forward.

“Thirdly, we visited the soft landing centre at Liverpool Science Park and felt really at home. People were genuinely glad that we were considering Liverpool.”

The company is now recruiting four staff for its office at Liverpool Science Park. Hammerkit today employs 16 people in Helsinki, but Mr Sorsa-Leslie says he expects the Liverpool office could become bigger than the Helsinki one in coming years.

Hammerkit will be targeting marketing, PR, advertising and digital agencies, as well as freelancers in those sectors.

Hammerkit says its software is designed for use by “web punks” – people who, like those who made fanzines in the punk era of the 1970s, want to get their message out quickly.

He said: “This tool makes it so easy to get out there and do something. We feel there’s too much pre-planning generally – a lot of stuff that goes on before the customer sees anything on the web.

“The concept was ‘let’s make things a lot more punk’. In punk, you didn’t need to learn to play guitar to get on stage and make noise. After a while, that noise people made became art. You don’t need to know how to design websites to use Hammerkit. You can just do stuff, see how people react, and change it on the fly.”

Hammerkit launched its software in early 2007. Mr Sorsa-Leslie, originally from Aberdeen, joined later that year.

He said: “I was originally a customer – they built me a system. It’s almost like the Victor Kiam story – I liked the company so much I bought a small stake and joined them.”

Steve Smith, industry director for the digital sector at Liverpool Vision, led the push to bring Hammerkit to the city. He said: “Mark sees the UK as an important market because of the number of advertising agencies here.

“London, Manchester and Liverpool are key markets for Hammerkit – the company wants to sell its products to web designers and advertisers.

“We brought Mark to Liverpool so he could see the energy here, and see that it was a good place to come.

“The cost of operating here is about half what Hammerkit would pay in London, but that market is still accessible from Liverpool.”

Finland is one of Europe’s leading hi-tech hubs, and Mr Smith is working to bring more Finnish investment to Liverpool.

He is visiting Helsinki later this week to host a pitching session for Finnish companies looking to invest in Merseyside. The top companies will pitch to investors at the Liverpool Software City event next month.