An agreement between two US technology firms will create 350 new jobs in Dublin, it emerged last night. The deal will see Solectron take over NCR's manufacturing assets in three cities, including Dublin, for an estimated $100 million (£65 million).
NCR, formerly a division of AT&T, currently employs 350 people at its 116,000 sq ft plant in Clonshaugh industrial estate, Dublin, supplying a variety of high-tech computers and retail till systems to the international market.
In June 1996, NCR announced plans to invest £2.7 million at its Clonshaugh plant, and to hire a further 180 people, bringing the payroll to its current level. Total employment is now expected to rise to around 700 people. The firm was established in Ireland in 1904 and the Dublin operation, combined with an office in Belfast, has an annual turnover of around £120 million.
Solectron was founded in 1977 and provides pre-manufacturing, manufacturing and post-manufacturing services to electronics firms. In recent years the firm has proved a high-flier; since 1991, sales have grown at an average annual rate of 47 per cent.
In a statement, Solectron and NCR said the agreement would be completed early next spring.
"Solectron would assume NCR's manufacturing capacity totalling 350,000 sq ft and assets in Columbia in South Carolina, Atlanta in Georgia; and Dublin. The facilities are used in the manufacture of NCR's computer servers, retail scanners and point-of-sale terminals. NCR will continue to design and engineer computer servers used for data warehousing as well as retail products," the statement continued.
A spokeswoman for the two companies said the reason Dublin would see new jobs was that Solectron planned to expand the manufacturing unit immediately.
