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Global business services

Northern Ireland has a vibrant business services sector.

Globally renowned as a low risk, cost-competitive location, Northern Ireland offers a high quality, skilled workforce with proven experience in delivering services to UK, European and US clients.

The region is home to a mix of captive, outsourced and shared services centres, that cover a wide range of activities including human resources, finance, auditing, supply chain management, customer support, marketing, consultancy and legal services. Government and academia work closely with industry partners to ensure that current and future skills needs are met.

  • Northern Ireland is one of Europe's most business friendly regions of its size.

  • Almost 20,000 employed in shared services, contact or knowledge centres.

  • Almost 5,500 graduates with a degree in areas including finance, accounting, economics, maths, marketing and human resource management.

  • Fully digital, fibre optic communications network. # 1 location in the UK and Ireland for full fibre access.

Areas of expertise

Customer experience

Area of sector expertise

  • Customer support
  • Sales and marketing
  • Customer relationship management
  • Multinational outsourcers such as Concentrix, Teleperformance and Firstsource have all chosen Northern Ireland to grow their operations.
  • Captive centres in the region include: Lloyds/Halifax, Santander, BNP Paribas, AXA Insurance and Danske Bank.
  • 12,000+ people are employed in customer services.

Financial and accounting

Area of sector expertise

  • Transactional services
  • Management accounting
  • Credit control
  • Payroll
  • Billing
  • Companies such as Terex and Pearson have set up financial services centres in the region.
  • Other international firms such as Allen & Overy, have set up shared services centres in the region, covering finance and accounting activities.

Technical support

Area of sector expertise

  • Desk support
  • Engineering support
  • Security
  • International companies such as OneSource Virtual, Fujitsu and Capita have service delivery centres in Northern Ireland.
  • The region is also home to centres of excellence for Capita IT Managed Services and BT.
  • Allen & Overy’s global hub for IT support is based in Belfast, operating a 24/7 service model.

Human resources

Area of sector expertise

  • Recruitment
  • Training
  • Occupational therapy
  • Payroll
  • Alexander Mann, Allen & Overy, and Capita are some of the international companies delivering human resource related activities from the region.

Northern Ireland for foreign direct investment

Northern Ireland is an attractive place for investment in the renewables and energy sector thanks to a combination of factors including skills availability, excellent infrastructure, cost-effectiveness and a supportive business environment. To find out more, visit our Invest in Northern Ireland section.

Get in touch

Connect with a member of our global business services team via LinkedIn.

Please get in touch.  You can find a team in your region or fill in an enquiry form and a member of the team will contact you directly.

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