North Belfast company nails Debenhams contract

A new north Belfast company has secured a contract with Debenhams and as a result will create 19 jobs by the end of next year.

New York City Nails (NYCN) has been set up by two entrepreneurial brothers, Seamus and Tiernan Lynch, with support from Invest Northern Ireland. The company is investing £1.197 million in setting up a shared services centre in North City Business Centre. The centre will carry out back office functions to support the operation of its nail bars, which are being set up in 50 of Debenhams’ UK stores.

The centre will have sophisticated IT systems receiving information from electronic point of sale systems in each store, to allow the company to monitor the performance of every NYCN outlet.

“The investment in the shared service centre will create high value jobs that will contribute some £470,000 in salaries to the economy,” said Maurice Patterson, Manager of Invest NI’s Eastern Local Office. “The Debenhams contract is only the first step in the development of NYCN’s potential, and Invest NI will be working with the company to help it take advantage of future opportunities for growth.”

NYCN is already planning to expand, targeting airports and the leisure market, and is set to open another eight nail bars.

“The market for nail products and services is growing steadily,” says Seamus Lynch, NYCN’s Managing Director. “NYCN only uses products manufactured by US company OPI, which is a leading international brand. We believe that NYCN offers a very high quality service at a reasonable price. On that basis we anticipate that we will quickly establish a strong presence throughout the UK.

“Given the geographical spread of the outlets, the shared services centre will be crucial to the effective management and future success of NYCN,” he added.

(SP)