IDB promotes Northern Ireland at Call Centre Expo

Northern Ireland's benefits as a customer contact centre location for blue-chip investors such as Acer, Halifax, Stream International, IAS/Fortis and Bank of Ireland were on show at this year’s Call Centre Expo at the Birmingham NEC.

The Industrial Development Board (IDB) attended the show to market Northern Ireland as a major European location at the event, the UK’s only major exhibition for the call and contact centre industry during the recent two-day event.

Northern Ireland is considered by the industry to be one of the premier locations for call centres in the UK and Ireland, and in recent years has attracted significant investments from blue-chip companies.

Kieran Mannion, the IDB executive responsible for contact centres, said: “Independent research shows that Northern Ireland is the best place in the UK or Ireland to locate a call centre.

"Our telecommunications infrastructure is excellent, and the plentiful supply of friendly, motivated and IT literate staff completes a package which is commercially very attractive.”

Kyra Morrison of IDB’s London team said Northern Ireland had seen tremendous growth in its popularity as a call centre destination. However, there was still plenty of scope for further expansion in the industry and Call Centre Expo was an excellent platform from which to encourage new investors to consider Northern Ireland’s advantages.

Up to 6,000 visitors are expected to have attended the show by the end of Wednesday. This is the second year running that the IDB has exhibited at the show and it is viewed as the industry event at which to showcase Northern Ireland’s attractions for contact centre investors. (MB)