A BELFAST company which is ranked among the world’s top data sanitisation firms is investing more than £1 million to expand and create 15 jobs over the next three years.
And in the wake of the Brexit vote, Asset Management Ireland (AMI) has set its sights firmly on tripling its business in the Republic of Ireland.
The company, formed by Philip McMichael in 2001, operates in the specialist area of IT asset disposal recycling - effectively disposing of obsolete or unwanted equipment and data in a safe and ecologically-responsible manner.
And as regulation over data security tightens, with businesses facing fines of 4 per cent of their global revenues if they suffer data breaches, the services offered by AMI are increasingly in demand.
The company operates from an 18,000 sq ft purpose-designed processing facility in Mallusk designed to provide efficient environmental processing within a secure environment and it also has an operation in Dublin and an office in Theale, Berkshire, to better serve its customer bases in those regions.
Around a quarter of Ireland’s 200 largest IT user organisations already have their old IT devices 'retired' by AMI, which also generates new revenue streams for customers, following the refurbishment and resale of data sanitised devices.
The company says the new jobs will include engineers, logistics personnel and warehouse staff as well as sales and business development professionals, and when they are in place by 2018, its total team will have grown to 50.
And the investment, funded by managing director McMichael's own assets, is expected to grow AMI's business in the Republic to around £2.5 million.
McMichael said: “We've grown by 20 per cent in each of the last three years, and while the recovering economy is part of this, a major factor is the volume of inbound multinational investment from industries where data security is critical.
"These include data centres, financial technology, and medical technology companies. We have also been retained by government bodies and a number of security specialists to manage IT disposal on their behalf."
He added: “We’re always looking to grow and innovate, and the expansion in the technology sector in Ireland presents a huge opportunity for us. The IT retirement stage can leave data vulnerable if not handled correctly. The most security conscious companies choose AMI to be assured of the lowest risk of harmful data leaks from old devices.
"We have invested heavily in being the most secure operator on the market, and as more companies become aware of the importance of security, AMI aims to become embedded within their businesses.”
The company's business manager Faye Thomas said: “AMI has achieved steady year-on-year growth since it opened its offices in Dublin in 2008. The larger team is to ensure that we can continue to deliver on our commitment to be the most service and customer focused company in the industry.
“Our Irish operations currently account for 35 per cent of our overall business, but by 2018 we expect it to account for the majority of our business.
"We have already made a major investment in our data sanitisation technologies and systems so that we can securely process 3,000 devices and wipe almost 200,000 GBs per day. The focus now is now all about expanding our marketing and logistics capabilities to cater to customer needs.”
AMI draws its customers from within both the public and private sectors in areas including finance, health and telecoms.
