Thousands of jobs appear to have been safeguarded by a new agreement between Brighton and Hove City Council and finance giant American Express.

The council’s cabinet has agreed to sell the firm the land in Eastern Road on which its European headquarters Amex House currently stands to enable it to carry out a major redevelopment of the site.

The deal will include a clause which requires the company to make a long-term commitment to basing its operations in Brighton.

Amex is the city’s largest private sector employer, with more than 3,000 staff, and is considered key because the majority are much-needed highly skilled jobs.

It contributes 7% of the city economy, worth about £300 million a year.

The firm has moved to buy Amex House after deciding last year to stay in Brighton, where it has been based since 1977.

It had previously considered moving its main hub to Crawley, Exeter, Scotland or mainland Europe.

The bid to buy Amex House is linked to plans to develop 265,000sq ft of land directly north of the site, bordering Carlton Hill.

Amex had said it needed to buy its site, which is currently leased from the council, to give it the flexibility to make a viable long-term masterplan for the whole area.

Ted Kemble, the council’s cabinet member for economy, said the sale price was confidential but described the offer from American Express as “good value”.

The cabinet was told Amex believed the high level of language skills among Brighton’s residents made the city a good site for expansion.

Members were told American Express had made clear the land purchase was an operational decision and not aimed at making a profit.

The current landmark Amex House was described as having a “limited economic lifespan remaining”.