£8.8m Fujitsu investment to create 150 jobs

Local & National

Monday, May 12, 2008

By William Allen

Northern Ireland has received another major jobs boost after Fujitsu Services announced plans for 150 new posts in Belfast and Londonderry.

Economy Minister Nigel Dodds announced the £8.8m investment to bring 30 new jobs to Derry and 120 to Belfast.

Earlier this month Indian firm Firstsource unveiled plans for 800 new jobs in Northern Ireland, which included 330 in Derry.

The company is currently trying to identify a Northern Ireland site for the hundreds of other jobs.

The latest jobs boost also comes hot on the heels of last week's investment conference in Belfast, which has given rise to hopes of massive US investment in the province.

The investment is Fujitsu Services' third in the past 18 months, bringing their total employment locally to over 900.

Minister Dodds said: “I’m pleased that a global brand of Fujitsu’s standing has decided to reinvest further in Northern Ireland.

"The company considered several locations for this new centre of excellence but chose Northern Ireland because of the positive impact their existing operation here has on the company’s global competitiveness.

“They have attributed their success to our advanced telecommunications infrastructure, the highly qualified workforce, cost competitive location and the support offered by Invest NI.”

The minister continued: "Northern Ireland has developed a reputation as an excellent location for inward investors looking to expand into Europe. As a result of this reputation we have attracted a string of blue-chip companies in recent years.

"The success of the recent US-NI Investment Conference highlights the genuine interest overseas investors have in taking advantage of the business opportunities on offer in Northern Ireland.”

“This investment, which will contribute £4million per annum in salaries to the economy, is a major boost for the north-west in particular as 120 of the jobs will be based at Fujitsu’s Londonderry operation at Timber Quay.”

Fujitsu is one of the world's largest independent providers of the Oracle eBusiness Suite services and has been experiencing rapid growth.

The company has a strong focus on staff development and Invest Northern Ireland's support for the project includes an element of support for training.

Mike Crow, head of application services at Fujitsu, said: “This investment reflects Fujitsu’s confidence in its Northern Ireland operations and in the region’s ability to deliver the skills and the work ethic that has made our experience here so positive.

”This new centre of excellence will play an important role in rolling out our strategy of developing innovative delivery channels based on a global delivery model.”