Confirmation of the closure of a call centre in Derry is a body blow to the workers and their families, local MLA Maeve McLaughlin has said.
Rigney Dolphin, which opened its call centre at Patrick Street in the city in December 2010 with the help of £1.2 million from Invest NI, is to shut down with the loss of 30 jobs.
The company, which employs about 1,100 staff in Waterford, Dublin and Dundalk, had hoped to create up to 300 jobs at its Derry centre..
Responding to a question from Ms McLaughlin in the Stormont Assembly, Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster all staff at the Derry centre were to be made redundant over the next couple of months.”
Ms Foster said while the job losses were “deeply regrettable,” they were as a result of a commercial decision taken by the company, in light of difficult trading conditions and increasing competition in the business process outsourcing market.
Ms McLaughlin had asked the Minister in a written question last week for clarity on the fate of the Derry workers.
The Sinn Fein representative said: “These job losses are a body to the workers and their families.
“We need to ensure that the workers receive their full redundancy entitlements and I will be working closely with Invest NI and others to ensure that staff get the maximum support.”
Derry SDLP MLA Colum Eastwood said the job losses were “another huge blow” for Derry’s economy.
He added it was “concerning” a company that had benefited from Invest NI funding was to cease operations in Derry “after such a short period of time.”
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