The Hindu Business Line : Firstsource gets £6.7 m to expand in Northern Ireland

Mumbai, May 2 The country’s third largest BPO firm Firstsource Solutions has received about £6.7 million (about Rs 54 crore) of support to scale up presence in Northern Ireland, from an arm of the Government there.

The ICICI Bank-promoted firm will create 800 new jobs in Northern Ireland by establishing a new centre of excellence and expanding its existing operations in Londonderry, according to the Invest Northern Ireland (NI) Web site.

The local economy will benefit from an additional £10 million in salaries annually, Mr Nigel Dodds, the region’s economy minister, said in a statement. “These career opportunities in the financial services and telecom sectors offer local people the chance to gain valuable, transferable skills,” said Mr Dodds. The investment commitment (£6.7 million) by Invest NI, which is Northern Ireland Government’s economic development organisation, includes £834,000 of training support.

Hiring more

Firstsource plans to expand its Londonderry operation by creating over 300 jobs, in addition to the existing 530 people already employed there, Invest NI said. A Firstsource spokesperson confirmed the development, adding that the company would scale up its Northern Ireland operations depending on client ramp ups. However, she refused to say by when and where the new centres would be erected.

In Northern Ireland, Firstsource already has centres in Belfast and Londonderry. There have been a string of inward investments into Northern Ireland by Indian companies such as HCL, Polaris and Tech Mahindra. To further cultivate these links, Invest NI has recently opened an office in Mumbai. BPO companies are keen to increase their presence in near shore geographies such as Ireland, as there are some processes which cannot be outsourced due to emotional reasons.

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Firstsource gets £6.7 m to expand in Northern Ireland