Smart Investors

In recent years Northern Ireland has become increasingly successful in attracting foreign direct investment. A testament to the success of these investments is the fact that nearly 70 per cent of these companies have already reinvested in Northern Ireland or are gearing up to invest more.

Hundreds of businesses have recognised the benefits of investing in Northern Ireland. Here’s what some of them have to say:

CyberSource

CyberSource (a VISA company) is a world leader in the development of payment-management solutions with approximately 295,000 customers worldwide. The company first invested in Northern Ireland in 2008 to establish a 56 person Software R&D Centre. In 2010 CyberSource reinvested £2.8m in its Belfast centre - the team will design and develop cutting edge technologies based on Java software to enhance its payment platforms.

“The level of talent and energy our Belfast team has brought to the organisation has exceeded our expectations. As the team grows, it will play a central role in achieving the strategic objectives of the company.”
Michael Walsh, President and CEO of CyberSource

BTI Systems

BTI Systems is a global supplier of Intelligent Service Edge solutions which includes the development of state of the art systems for the delivery of high bandwidth voice, video and data communications. The company opened their £6.7 million European Head Quarters in Belfast in April 2009. “Today symbolises the beginning of a new phase in our global expansion, with Northern Ireland playing a key role in the delivery of best-in-class technologies and solutions for our European client base.

“We have been immensely impressed by the calibre of people recruited to date and are confident that working in partnership with our main development centre in North America, that our R&D potential can be fully maximised.”
Steve Waszak – President and CEO of BTI Systems

Intune Networks

Intune Networks, based in the Republic of Ireland, builds highly advanced optical networking platforms for high definition video and IT services. The company has established a new Research & Development Centre in Belfast which will create up to 77 new high-skilled ICT positions by 2010. The new telecoms networking platform will focus on improving high speed internet connectivity in cities and towns, known as a Metro Area Network. The Intune Belfast centre will design key parts of the platform and provide test and customer support facilities.

“Invest NI’s ongoing support and flexibility in dealing with the unique needs of our project has been instrumental, particularly as we have initially focused on rapidly building a strong core team of developers to ramp up R&D activities. The calibre of the people recruited to date, and their wealth of experience in the design and development of large scale telecommunications software solutions, has been exceptional. We believe that this investment will be crucial to the quality and competitiveness of our products in international markets.”
Tim Fritzley, CEO of Intune Networks

Citi

Since establishing its first operation in Belfast in 2005, Citi has created a Centre of Excellence in financial services. Now employing close to 850 people, Citi’s Belfast centre provides integrated services to the corporation’s Markets and Banking Group in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in highly specialised areas such as application development and support, technology infrastructure, operations, and legal and compliance.

“The activity we engage in is quite complex and you have to give careful consideration to what you do where. In Belfast, there is a very well educated workforce that is hungry to work in our industry. Also, in trade settlements, where we are dealing with very tight deadlines and having to make judgement calls throughout the day, Belfast’s proximity to London is an added advantage.”
Cathy Munro, Managing Director of EMEA Securities and Banking Operations, Citi

Allstate

Since establishing its first footprint in Northern Ireland in 1998 with 250 employees, The Allstate Corporation, the largest publicly held personal lines insurer in North America, has reinvested here a further four times. The key objective was to reduce the US cost base and make targeted savings. By 2006, Northern Ireland centres had returned savings almost eight times the original target and grown to 1500 employees.

“Everything considered, Northern Ireland has the best combination of talent, cultural alignment, work ethic, attitude, and cost-base to be found anywhere in the English-speaking world”
Bro McFerran, Managing Director of Allstate Northern Ireland

Firstsource

Firstsource Solutions Ltd (India) is a Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) service provider founded by ICICI Bank, India’s largest financial services company. The company has had a presence in Northern Ireland since June 2006 when it set up its first European outsourcing operation in Belfast. This was then followed this by a further investment in Londonderry. In 2008, Firstsource announced plans to expand its Londonderry operation by creating over 300 jobs, in addition to the existing 530 people already employed there. The

company employs over 1,200 people in Northern Ireland. The company now has three centres in Northern Ireland – one in Belfast and two in Londonderry, with plans for further expansion.

“Firstsource is proud to be celebrating its third anniversary in Belfast and we are also delighted that we have so many of our original staff celebrating with us. The last three years seem to have flown past, during which time we have grown from nothing to now employing over 1,200 people in Northern Ireland, becoming the 12th biggest employer in the region. Northern Ireland has become a very strong contributor to the company's global revenues in the last three years."
Sean Canning, UK Operations Director

“This new contract confirms our Northern Ireland operations as centres of excellence for the telecommunications sector. We are delighted that our business continues to show strong growth and that we are able to create more jobs in the region. Our delivery centres play a vital role in delivering first class customer services for some of the world’s leading companies and we are very proud of the achievements of our staff.”
Matthew Vallance, President

Capita

Capita is the UK leader in the delivery of major change and transformational programmes to the public sector, in both central and local government. It is also the largest provider of business process outsourcing services to both public and private sectors in the UK. The Capita Group has had a presence in Northern Ireland since 1993 and of the Group’s 35,000 employees, just over 1,000 people are now employed in the regions capital Belfast. They work on a number of contracts for clients such as the Northern Ireland Civil Service, BBC,

and Prudential Life & Pensions. Five hundred and fifty staff are based in their Human Resources (HR) shared service centre in the heart of the city.

“Capita’s experience in Northern Ireland has been overwhelmingly positive, and through our investment in our people and their skills, it is our intention to continue to invest in the region”
Colin Finnegan, Business Development Director, Capita