Irish IT solutions firm Ergo has announced plans to invest £4.5 million in its new northern operation, creating 40 high paid jobs over the next three years.
Founded in 1993 by John Purdy and Tim Sheehy, Ergo has grown into one of Ireland’s leading indigenous tech firms, with 700 people employed across its bases in the Republic, the US, Columbia, New Zealand and Romania.
The IT company, now headed by former Grant Thornton boss Paul McCann, recently set up shop in Belfast’s River House with support from Invest NI.
Ergo is now on a recruitment drive to bolster the northern operation, headed by John Molloy, with plans to build out its wider managed services proposition into cloud and infrastructure; data and AI; as well as cyber security for organisations across both the public and private sectors.
Paul McCann said Ergo wants to recruit 40 hybrid roles as it looks to expand into the UK market.
The jobs are expected to generate £2.4m in ages, averaging at £60,000 per head.
“Ergo sits at the intersection of business and technology and CIOs the world over trust us for our proven track record over the past thirty years,” said the CEO.
“Our presence in Northern Ireland means we will now be ideally situated between two key markets across Ireland and the UK, allowing us to serve even more customers as we continue to expand our footprint globally.”
While Ergo’s River House office is a relatively new development, the company has built up a client base in the north over several years.
It said the investment in the north capitalises on the company’s fast growing data and AI practice headed up by Belfast native, Alistair Stoops who joined Ergo earlier this year.
“The presence of a highly skilled workforce and the strong tech and business environment in Northern Ireland made it a very easy decision to invest in the region,” added Mr McCann.
“Northern Ireland is a very attractive location for inward investment, start-ups, spin-outs and scale-ups, and Ergo are thrilled to be contributing to this thriving tech and business environment.”
The investment has been welcomed by Economy Minister Conor Murphy.
“The software and cyber sector is one of the north’s most innovative, productive and export-orientated sectors,” he said.
“Ergo’s investment recognises the benefits of establishing operations in the north, it capitalises on our high-quality IT skills base and world-class IT graduates.”