Call centre brings 900 jobs

New call centre planned for unemployment blackspot

An American company has announced plans to create 900 jobs at a call centre in a Belfast unemployment blackspot.

Northern Ireland Assembly trade and enterprise minister Sir Reg Empey broke the news in Denver, Colorado, the home town of Teletech.

The firm is to base its operation in an empty factory premises at Duncairn Gardens, in the north of the city.

It had originally been thought that 300 jobs would be created. The 900 posts are expected to come online over the next two years.

Teletech says it is planning to set up a state-of-the- art centre for telephone and e-commerce based customer-care operations.

Sir Reg said he was delighted the company had chosen an area of "particularly high unemployment" in Belfast and that the business would have a "sharp e-commerce focus".

Sir Reg Empey broke news of the jobs while on US trip

"It is an extremely significant and timely endorsement of Northern Ireland as a world class location for ambitious and technology-driven companies operating in the increasingly demanding customer management industry," he said.

The minister also welcomed plans by the company to allocate 150 posts to long term unemployed people taking part in the government's New Deal scheme.

"Overall, Teletech will provide significant opportunities for people throughout the area to gain expertise in e-commerce technologies and activities.

"The investment reinforces the findings of the recent Mitial survey that Northern Ireland is the best call centre location in the United Kingdom."

Operations to start in October

Teletech chief executive Scott Thompson said the company planned to start operations in Belfast in early October.

He said: "Our key requirements when locating a centre are a strong workforce and excellent telecommunications structure.

"We opted for Belfast because it provided the right combination of flexible, highly motivated and available people with a robust and resilient digital telecommunications network."

North Belfast Sinn Fein assembly member Gerry Kelly welcomed the jobs into an area "clearly in need of inward investment.

Mr Kelly said: "For too long such areas have been denied the benefits of the peace process.

And the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party councillor Martin Morgan also welcomed the news.

He said: "This is a great day for north Belfast.

"The whole community has something to gain from the jobs created and the investment into the local economy here."

The Northern Ireland Industrial Development Board has backed the deal with a £7m grant.