Indian call centre company's jobs boost for Derry

An Indian call centre company has chosen Derry as the base for the majority of 1,000 jobs it plans to create in the North, it announced today.

ICICI OneSource is beginning recruitment for a centre in Derry’s Northland Road, which it says will employ 600 people within two years. The centre is due to open later in the year.

The company is already gearing up to open its first base in Belfast in the coming weeks. It pressed ahead with recruitment there while scouring the North for a second suitable base.

The company, one of the biggest in the field in India, handles calls and administration for clients in the financial services, telecommunications and health care sectors.

Its arrival in the North was announced by Secretary of State Peter Hain last month just weeks after he returned from leading a trade mission to India where spoke to ICICI bosses.

It has been given Government support to set up and Leslie Morrison, chief executive of the economic body supplying the funding, Invest Northern Ireland, said he was delighted Derry had been confirmed as the second location.

He said: “Invest NI is committed to helping ICIC OneSource fully develop its business potential in Northern Ireland and, with our support, the Belfast and Derry operations will deliver over £28m of wages and salaries by 2008 into the local economy.”

Matthew Vallance, MD of ICICI in Europe, said Derry had a lot to offer the company.

“We have been impressed with the quality of the workforce, the enthusiasm of the local community and the interest they have shown in our company.

“Our new Derry facility will provide us with a solid foundation to support our long-term growth plans.”

A number of financial institutions in the UK and Europe have started to turn away from using call centres in India and returned nearer home.

It is understood ICICI OneSource has set up in the North to facilitate those seeking a home base.