Northern Ireland Plugs Into High-tech Needs (cover) Belfast Booms With Big Wins Londonderry Calling Request Information |
The Langanside area of Belfast, which is the riverfront area and where the vast majority of high-tech investment has landed, is investing some $786 million to develop a mixed-use project with offices, residential and retail. Langanside has also improved its river environment with new walkways and a new river weir that holds the river back at high tide and eliminates exposed mud banks during low tide.
Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe Limited's $47 million engineering center, in fact, represents the largest ever Japanese investment in Northern Ireland. Over the next four years, Fujitsu's center for advanced communication technology product will employ 400 engineers and will incorporate the company's existing software operation in Belfast.
In an effort to attract more international firms, Lisney Commercial Property Consultants is building a 70,000-sq.-ft. (6,503-sq.-m.) speculative office building in Belfast called Meridian Plaza (www.meridianplaza.com.uk). "This building shows how the market has changed," says Andrew Marsden, associate director with Lisney Commercial Property Consultants, Belfast. "It's been designed to incorporate not only the full European specifications, but it is being built to a higher standard than has ever been in Northern Ireland. Five years ago you wouldn't have seen a building like this, designed to these specifications. It's the first office building in Northern Ireland using a CD-ROM and Web site, and it has a whole plethora of finishes that one would expect more from a European or international standard building."
Many of the high-tech jobs coming to Belfast are in the IT/call center operations. Halifax, for example, is investing $71 million for a 1,500-job call center. Abbey National Bank has also chosen Belfast for a new call center, where it will create 672 jobs, and Prudential is developing a $11.3 million customer service center in Belfast.
The reason for so many new call centers? Good available labor seemed to be the consensus among the latest Belfast entrants. "One of the key benefits for us in Northern Ireland is the unrivalled availability of people, particularly young people with a good education, skills, enthusiasm and dedication that can support and sustain a development of this kind," said Dick Spelman, director of distribution with Halifax, at the call center announcement.
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Belfast has been the primary recipient of Northern Ireland's growth, and much of the development has been in the software/IT arena. Part of the capital city's success can be attributed to redevelopment programs, making the area much more attractive to high-tech operations.