CALL centre giant Concentrix has completed a £14 million scheme to convert Belfast's old Mayfield leisure centre into its European customer engagement centre, capable of housing its 1,400 staff in Northern Ireland.
The 130,000 sq ft facility - complete with its own gym and yoga/pilates rom - will serve as a hub for the company's entire Northern Ireland operations, bringing together employees from existing sites at Lanyon Place, River House in High Street, Lesley Exchange in East Bridge Street and Concentrix House in Fountain Street (the latter which it will contain to retain).
And the company's global president Chris Caldwell said the new building signifies the "realisation of exciting aspirations" for Concentrix Belfast and "redefines what a customer engagement centre should be across the globe”.
Concentrix Belfast, a wholly owned subsidiary of the New York Stock Exchange-listed Synnex Corporation, delivers technology-infused customer management, consulting and back office solutions in 40 languages.
It started life in Northern Ireland in February 2000 as GEM (an acronym for the Global E-Mail Company) and since then has contributed more than £300 million to local economy through salaries and taxes.
"This new state-of-the-art centre of excellence reflects Concentrix’s continued commitment to outstanding facilities and exceptional customer engagement solutions for the world’s best brands and to the Northern Ireland economy," senior vice-president Philip Cassidy said.
"The multi-million pound investment also marks our latest investment in the growth of our European market and demonstrates our confidence in the market.
"The new facility has provided Concentrix with a fantastic new blueprint for what is to come as we continue to expand and develop their global footprint."
Cassidy is credited with pinpointing Mayfield in 2014 as the new home for Concentrix after the centre had lain idle for 10 years.
He said: "I drove past Maysfield one day and thought it would make a great location for our new site. I then spoke to Belfast City Council about buying and rebuilding before bidding and ultimately buying the property.”
“We considered both demolition and regeneration. But the history associated with Maysfield is so plentiful that we believed it was right to keep the fabric of the building. We put our investment into regeneration because this was of more benefit to the local community. Maysfield is an iconic and historic site in central Belfast and we are proud to have brought it back to life.”
Yesterday's opening was formally endorsed by Belfast lord mayor Nuala McAllister and Olympic gold medallist Dame Mary Peters, while guests alongside Concentrix executives, staff, and clients from around the world included political heavyweights Arlene Foster and Gavin Robinson from the DUP alongside Michelle O'Neill and Máirtín Ó Muilleoir from Sinn Fein.
Earlier this year Concentrix was embroiled in what a government report labelled "a catastrophic failure" in a contract with HMRC dealing with tax credits for hundreds of thousands of UK citizens.
