Invest Northern Ireland have recently announced two US companies will be creating jobs in Belfast.

On September 27, Northern Ireland’s Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster revealed that Quantus, a market leading software provider, whose event platform enables enterprises to operate and act dynamically, plans to create 55 new, high quality jobs in Belfast.

The Minister made the announcement in San Francisco where she and Invest Northern Ireland Chief Executive Alastair Hamilton were meeting with existing and potential investors and building trade links.

Earlier in September, she announced that San Ramon based Global Software company WANdisco plc will be setting up a software development center in Belfast, creating 36 high quality jobs.

Quantus is a rapidly growing provider of dynamic enterprise solutions for the casino gaming, hospitality and entertainment sectors. With a £412,500 offer of support from Invest NI, the company will establish a support, operations and software development centre from which to service existing markets in the US and new European markets.

Arlene Foster said: “I met with senior management from Quantus in San Francisco…to finalise negotiations with Invest NI and ensure that this project was secured for Northern Ireland.

“In discussing business plans with the company, I was greatly impressed with how rapidly this young, dynamic firm has grown since it was established in late 2011 and with its proposed plans for future growth. Generating over £1.75 million annually in salaries, the jobs being promoted will pay well above the NI private sector median, in line with Programme for Government objectives.

“The decision by Quantus to locate this project in Northern Ireland demonstrates once again that this region is a global location of choice for international companies.”

James Romeo of Quantus said: “In deciding on a new location for our centre, Belfast was the clear winner in terms of skills, accessibility to target markets and connectivity. We could however, have found these factors at other global sites so it was really the offer of support from Invest NI that helped us to make the final decision.

Matt Bieber of Quantus added: “It is an honour to work with Invest Northern Ireland and this investment in Belfast supports our overall growth strategy, which together with our new sales office in Los Angeles, strengthens our US customer engagements, particularly in Las Vegas and San Francisco.”

WANdisco plc is a leading provider of global collaboration software to the software development industry. It helps organisations with software developers based across the globe to work collaboratively and in a more efficient way.

Invest Northern Ireland has offered £360,000 in support of the investment.

Arlene Foster said: “WANdisco plc is a highly innovative leader in its field and its decision to set up in Belfast reflects the strength of what Northern Ireland has to offer.

“The company looked at several other possible locations including India, Eastern Europe and other UK cities, but was drawn to Northern Ireland by the availability of a skilled workforce, high speed connectivity, a cost effective operating environment and the support offered by Invest Northern Ireland.

“The ICT sector is a key driver of economic growth and, as such, is a priority sector for Invest Northern Ireland which works hard to secure this kind of high calibre investment. The jobs will contribute £1.2 million a year to the local economy and the new centre will further strengthen the ICT sector here.”

The Belfast software development centre will play a key role in supporting WANdisco’s global growth strategy by doubling the company’s software engineering capacity.

David Richards, President of WANdisco plc, said: “We are aiming to achieve substantial growth within the next three years and the Belfast centre will play a critical role in that growth. Our strategy includes further development of our existing suite of products, development of new products for the high-growth ‘Big Data’ market and further expansion into Europe and China.”

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