FD Technologies to create 500 jobs with opening of new tech hub

Newry-headquartered FD Technologies is set to create 500 jobs in the Republic with the establishment of a new technology hub.

FD’s managed consulting and services division First Derivatives is to launch the new tech hub in response to increased demand for its services from Irish banks and global institutions that have operations here.

The group employs about 300 people in the Republic. David Collins, who leads First Derivatives, said the company expects to create about 500 jobs, some of which will be based in Dublin. He said it is also looking at establishing an office in either the southeast or southwest and was open to the idea of setting up hubs in both regions, too.

“There are a lot of changes going on in the marketplace and we really want to grow our footprint within Ireland. What we are hearing from Irish banks and international ones based here is that they want more from us,” said Mr Collins.

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"We really want to do more by operating at a higher level and taking on the big boys because there is no reason why we can't take work off the likes of PwC and Accenture. "

Founded as First Derivatives by the late Brian Conlon in his mother's spare bedroom in 1996, London-listed FD, which is now led by Seamus Keating, employs about 2,500 people across three separate divisions – Kx, First Derivatives and MRP. It also counts some of the world's largest finance, technology, automotive, manufacturing and energy institutions among its clients. Customers include Credit Suisse, Citi, JP Morgan, Paddy Power, Goldman Sachs and a number of Formula One teams.

Mr Collins said the consulting arm was growing across the island of Ireland with its headcount rising in Dublin at a faster level than at any other of the company’s other sites. Mr Collins admitted that with London being such a big financial centre that the company has not previously focused as much on the Republic as it might have done. He added though that the focus now has little to do with Brexit.

Technical support

"The market in Ireland has been heavily weighted towards the big guys like PwC, Accenture, Tata and so on but over the last couple of years, clients have begun to realise that there are better models out there and ones that are more cost effective," Mr Collins said.

“We’re not going to take on the big guys in terms of high-end consulting but they simply can’t take us on when it comes to core delivery work such as 24-hour technical support and so on. That is what we’re really good at.”

He said the new roles will encompass a mixture of professional and graduate roles across areas such as compliance and project management.

Mr Collins said the company has huge ambitions to grow the business further with the increased focus on the Irish market core to this. “There are a lot of changes happing in the market generally which means that our focus will remain on capital markets. A lot of the changes taking place really fall in our favour,” he said.