Business trends were turned on the head, last Monday, when an Indian IT company announced it was creating 250 call centre jobs in Northern Ireland.
The major jobs boost for Belfast will come as part of a £1.9m investment by HCL BPO, one of India’s leading global IT firms. HCL currently employs 900 people in its call centre at Apollo Road in the south of the city – an operation it took over from BT in 2001.
Announcing the new jobs, Northern Ireland Economy Minister Barry Gardiner said: ‘Many similar call centres have relocated. Here we have a leading company from India investing in Northern Ireland.’
HCL’s global strategy was to increase its business in Europe and the US, and the expansion in Belfast would further consolidate the city as a key European base. The investment has been heavily backed by the province’s business agency, Invest NI, which is providing 917,000 in selective financial assistance and 433,000 for further training through the company development programme.
Ranjit Narasimhan, HCL chief operating officer in Belfast , said the company was expanding operations in the city to enable it to develop opportunities identified in Europe.
Source: Independent
2004-09-22
Em Foco – Pessoa