A BELFAST-based software firm is undertaking a £1.3 million expansion, which could create 100 new jobs this year.
French tech company Assystem Technologies and its affiliates, including SQS Ireland, have rebranded as Expleo, in a move that will create an initial 150 jobs on the island.
The global company now employs 15,000 people in more than 25 countries, 500 of which are split between its Belfast base at Catalyst Inc and Dublin.
As part of the expansion plans in the north, Expleo will lean on the experience of SQS and focus
on the pharmaceutical, manufacturing, aerospace, automobile and government industries as key growth areas in the future.
Expleo will invest an initial £1.3m and plan to create 30 jobs at the company's Digital Labs over the next two years, with a total of 120 roles to be based in Dublin as part of the overall €8m (£7m) investment.
However, director and global head of Digital Labs, Rob McConnell told The Irish News that as many as 100 jobs could be created this year due to demand.
"I think it's reasonable to think that we could be at 100 people this year," he said.
"We won a number of contracts recently, public and private sector in the last year and we continue to bring work in from outside Northern Ireland. The sky's the limit, because some of the companies that we're dealing with are spending billions of pounds on services to take new things to market."
"We have a wealth of incredibly talented and educated people in Northern Ireland and they will be key to our future growth and success. There is a rich digital ecosystem within the island of Ireland and we look forward to becoming an even greater driving force at the heart of it," Mr McConnell added.
The Belfast Expleo facility, formerly SQS, provides digital software engineering and governance services to global clients.
Further services include automation and robotics, security and performance engineering, business intelligence and DevOps (development and operations).
Recruitment for the new jobs, which command an average salary of £40,000, has already begun, with the
company seeking experts in robotics, quality engineering, DevOps, project management and business agility.
As well as growth in the Irish market, Expleo plans to further expand its footprint, notably in Germany, North America and India. In India, Expleo aims to quickly double in size, and reach more than 5,000 employees in the next few years.
Olivier Aldrin, CEO of Expleo added: “We have made a bold move to help our clients win this race by becoming Expleo, a new breed of technology partner that offers end-to-end, integrated engineering, quality services and management consulting for digital transformation. Our new brand reflects our ambition to be the trusted partner that our clients need to rapidly deliver innovation at scale.”
