A NORTHERN Ireland-based call centre company has announced plans to create 900 jobs and double its workforce over the next three years as part of a new multi-million pound investment.
Gem, which is privately owned, currently employs more than 1,000 people.
It operates across three sites in the North including two in Belfast and one in Derry and also has an operation in Debrecen in Hungary.
The company, which was established in 2000, initially specialised in providing an outsourced e-mail handling service.
But over the last nine years Gem has grown its business to deliver a range of outsourced services including telephone, SMS and live chat in 29 languages.
The company has been offered a £5.5 million package of financial support towards the expansion by Invest Northern Ireland.
Philip Cassidy, one of the founders of the company and its managing director, said Gem was a “home grown success” and it intended to build on that success.
Exports account for 98 per cent of Gem’s business and Mr Cassidy believed there were good opportunities for it to expand in the euro zone, particularly the Republic.
He said the increasing strength of the euro had encouraged many businesses based in the Republic to outsource to companies in the North.
Gem recently won a new contract with Clearwire Broadband, which is based in Washington, in the US. The service involved had previously been delivered by a Dublin-based company.
“We believe that Clearwire’s decision to relocate north of the Border is a clear indication of the way in which some companies are looking for better value for their money. We can currently deliver more service for less than our counterparts that deal in the euro and of equal importance is the fact that the jobs remain on the island of Ireland, rather than going abroad,” Mr Cassidy said.
He said Gem had recently been contacted by a number of businesses operating in the Republic.
The North’s Economy Minister Arlene Foster welcomed the jobs boost particularly in light of the potential 235 job losses announced yesterday by Ballymena-based Wrightbus.
Ms Foster said Gem’s expansion plans had the potential to deliver £14 million in annual salaries for the Northern Ireland economy.
“This is a great boost for Northern Ireland at a time when the global economy continues to impact on local businesses and when many companies are deferring investment plans,” she added.
Ms Foster has spoken of her shock and disappointment about the redundancies announced by Wrightbus.
Local politicians have urged the North’s Executive to take immediate action to help the company and its employees. Declan O’Loan, the SDLP’s MLA for North Antrim, believes the Executive needs to put more resources into supporting companies operating in Northern Ireland.
Ms Foster said a senior management team from Invest Northern Ireland will meet the company to explore options which might be available to help it and what “appropriate resources” may be offered. Invest Northern Ireland also intends to work with the company on “product developments and any necessary upskilling of staff to address future opportunities”.
