Stream International, which closed its Derry operation just under two years ago, has defended its decision to create 1,000 new jobs at its Belfast call centre.
The company, which provides technical support and customer service to technology companies such as O2, had been based in Derry for 15 years and at one time employed up to 1,000 people. The final 300 employees left the company in December 2011.
The new announcement sees the creation of 1,000 jobs at the company’s Belfast-based call centre and is being supported by £3 million in government grants.
Patrick Forrester, Stream Northern Ireland manager, said the new jobs announced for Belfast were not replacing those in Derry.
Pointing out Stream maintained a workforce of 15 in Derry, Mr Forrester stressed the Belfast announcement was not related to any previous projects.
He said: “This project was initiatied two years ago by LMB Direct Marketing, the founder company in Springvale. LBM were acquired by Stream Global Services in February this year so these 1,000 jobs are note related to any previous project and are simply an expansion of our existing work and therefore location and so on are based on fufilling our existing customers’ needs.
He added: “The two projects are entirely unrelated. Of course, the name of the company is the same but this is a project initiated by LBM Direct Marketing and is an expansion of our existing work from years ago. We have these jobs in place in Belfast in terms of the initial 750 since 2005 and this growth of 1,000 is a welcome expansion to that workforce.”
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