Call centre firm to create 900 jobs in the North

A call centre company is set to create 900 new jobs in the North in a £20m (€22.6m) investment.

Gem, which currently has sites in Belfast and Derry, will create the new posts over the next three years.

The positions will be created at new locations across the region.

Customer service agents, sales agents, technical support and managerial positions will all be filled in an expansion that will see Gem’s workforce in the North double.

Managing director Philip Cassidy, who set up the company in 2000, said the new staff would handle accounts from the financial services, technology and retail sectors.

“Gem has proved to be a home grown success and we intend to continue to build on that,” he said.

The development is being supported with a £5.5m (€6.2m) grant from the North's government trade body Invest NI.

Gem’s present facilities are at Lanyon Place and East Bridge Street in Belfast and at Claremont International Business Centre in Derry.