Firm hoping to create 500 jobs

ONE of the leading providers of back office and other services to the financial and telecoms sectors could create at least 500 jobs here in the next few years.

Firstsource, which already employs 2,000 people in the North, said it has targeted the telecoms and financial services in the south and is hopeful it will win a number of contracts in the south in the near future.

Sean Canning, operations director for the group in Britain, said Firstsource expects to sign a number of deals here within the next six to 18 months, which would create up to 500 jobs that could be in place once the contracts start to be fully serviced.

Mr Canning said the group was “close to a number of deals” and he was confident that some announcement would be made towards the end of this year.

Firstsource provides both domestic and overseas back-up services to its extensive client base, including call centres, to service the needs of customer clients across a range of issues.

It employs up to 2,000 people between its operations in Derry and Belfast and Mr Canning said the group’s ambition is to develop operations here as well.

Founded in India in 2001, the group is the global provider of business process outsourcing (BPO) services aimed at banking and financial services, telecommunications and the healthcare industry.

Firstsource provides services throughout the customer lifecycle, including involvement in customer acquisition, customer care, billing and collections, transaction processing and business research.

The group offers an extensive reach to clients in 42 centres spread across India, the US and Britain — including the North and the Philippines.

The group is listed on the Indian stock exchanges and the numbers employed demonstrate the rapid growth that has taken place, said Mr Canning.

Although it is under pressure at present, he believes the Irish economy offers significant potential to his group, and the increasing emphasis on cost control and greater efficiencies should result in even greater demand for the kind of back-up services on offer from the group, he said.

In 2009, Firstsource was recognised as the Investor of the Year in the British Trade & Investment awards for the number of jobs established in the British market.

It is listed on India’s leading stock exchanges, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Group turnover is currently close to €300 million and has continued to show steady growth from its core operations across North America, Britain, India and Australia.