diff --git a/rm-community/rm-community-repo/source/java/org/alfresco/util/SortUtils.java b/rm-community/rm-community-repo/source/java/org/alfresco/util/SortUtils.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..21f665ed84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rm-community/rm-community-repo/source/java/org/alfresco/util/SortUtils.java
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/*
+ * #%L
+ * Alfresco Records Management Module
+ * %%
+ * Copyright (C) 2005 - 2017 Alfresco Software Limited
+ * %%
+ * This file is part of the Alfresco software.
+ * -
+ * If the software was purchased under a paid Alfresco license, the terms of
+ * the paid license agreement will prevail.  Otherwise, the software is
+ * provided under the following open source license terms:
+ * -
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ * -
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ * -
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ * #L%
+ */
+package org.alfresco.util;
+
+import java.text.Collator;
+import java.text.ParseException;
+import java.text.RuleBasedCollator;
+
+/**
+ * Helper class to provide functionality related to sorting.
+ *
+ * @author Tom Page
+ * @since 2.6
+ */
+public class SortUtils
+{
+    /** The collator used for comparing Strings. */
+    private static Collator collator;
+
+    /** Private constructor for util class. */
+    private SortUtils()
+    {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get a string comparator that sorts strings according to the locale of the server, and which treats spaces as
+     * earlier than alphanumeric characters.
+     *
+     * @return The comparator.
+     */
+    public static synchronized Collator getStringComparator()
+    {
+        if (collator == null)
+        {
+            String rules = ((RuleBasedCollator) Collator.getInstance()).getRules();
+            try
+            {
+                collator = new RuleBasedCollator(rules.replaceAll("<'\u005f'", "<' '<'\u005f'"));
+            }
+            catch (ParseException e)
+            {
+                throw new IllegalStateException(e);
+            }
+        }
+        return collator;
+    }
+}