Call centresbeget callcentres: Foster

The Minister says the proximity of a university of college offering courses relevant to the particular sector a prospective investor specialises in is also an important selling factor.

She was asked by Foyle MLA Pat Ramsey how InvestNI advises potential investors about geographically suitable venues for their investments.

The Enterprise Minister said Invest NI’s solutions were not area based but rather driven by talent availability and cost competitiveness.

“Therefore, a company will be attracted to where they perceive most of the talent to be or where increased cost competitiveness exists,” she said.

“Invest NI’s overseas sales staff, investment managers and Property Solutions Unit work closely with potential investors to agree a visit programme that will highlight Northern Ireland’s proposition given the time availability afforded by the potential investor.

“In such cases, investors will typically look at an area in terms of existing investors in the same business sector, universities and colleges that offer courses relating to that sector; and suitable, available property,” she said.

In Londonderry’s case this has involved a proliferation of call centre jobs, she said.

“For example, Londonderry District Council Area (DCA) has been successful in attracting Business Process Outsourcing projects due to the existing cluster within the Londonderry DCA,” she explained.