The London Film Festival (November 1-16) has unveiled its first ever title sponsor, meaning the festival will change its name for its forthcoming 44th edition.

Business centre operator Regus Instant Offices has guaranteed funding of over $1.46m (£1m) for the festival over the next three years. As a result, the festival's name will change to the Regus London Film Festival.

According to the festival, the sponsorship deal will allow it to fend off a rise in ticket prices. It will also allow the festival to increase this year's line-up by offering an extra 20 feature film titles.

RLFF director Adrian Wootton commented: "A three year title sponsorship deal with Regus enables us to look to this year's Festival and the future with renewed confidence."

Regus managing director Sean Morgan said: "This is Regus' first move into a major sponsorship and we are extremely excited at having been able to support such a major and valuable cultural event as the RLFF."

The RLFF has a number of other companies sponsoring specific aspects of the festival, including The Evening Standard, American Airlines, Blackstar.co.uk, Hello! Magazine, Turner Classic Movies and Orange.

The RLFF's programme will be unveiled on September 13.