Northbrook Technology, part of the US-owned Allstate Insurance Corporation, will create 550 jobs in Northern Ireland as part of a new £11 million sterling (€17.7 million) expansion programme. The Chicago-based personal insurance group came to the North three years ago and employs 250 people in Belfast and Derry. Northbrook provides information technology support to its parent.
Allstate's decision to reinvest in Northern Ireland has been hailed as a vote of confidence in the North as an investment location, especially given the downturn in investor visits to Northern Ireland following the terrorist attacks in the US in September.
The jobs announcement is a welcome boost for the North's IT and software sector estimated by Momentum, the industry body, to have shed more than 1,000 jobs in the past 12 months.
Mr Bro McFerran, managing director of Northbrook, said: "This new investment is based on a sound commercial decision by Allstate to continue to tap into the available resources in Northern Ireland to secure high-quality IT services and skills allied to outstanding cost efficiency."
Northbrook has been offered assistance of £3.1 million by the North's Industrial Development Board towards the expansion.
Northbrook plans to expand its locations in the North by creating a further 300 jobs in Belfast at Lanyon Place and an additional 250 jobs in Derry at the University of Ulster's Science Research Park.
Mr Mark Durkan, Northern Ireland Assembly deputy First Minister, welcomed the investment.
