LEADING electronics manufacturer Seagate Technology has announced a £57.4 million investment in its Derry operations.
The company, which provides data storage solutions for companies across the world including read-write heads for hard disk drives, has announced major investment in R&D at its wafer manufacturing plant at Springtown, which will create 25 highly skilled new jobs.
Seagate is investing £47.4m of its own money and is being aided by long-time supporter Invest NI to the tune of almost £10m (£9.95m).
The funding will be focused on enabling further research and development in nanophotonics, cementing Springtown’s position as a leader in world class technology innovation.
Speaking at the announcement yesterday, Seagate chief executive officer, Dave Mosley said the latest investment will further grow the business, which set up in Derry back in 1994.
“Technology innovation is the cornerstone of our success and the industry-leading innovation delivered by our facility in Springtown has been at the heart of our business strategy for the last 25 years,” he said.
“Today’s investment extends a successful, collaborative partnership with Invest Northern Ireland and will further strengthen our ability to deliver customer-centric technology leadership for the data-driven future of the global economy.”
Jeremy Fitch, executive director of business solutions at Invest NI said they are delighted to continue the successful partnership with Seagate
“Supporting the company along the way has been Invest NI, with every £1 of our support contributing to £4 investment in the local economy."
"We are delighted to be able to offer support towards this latest project which will see 120 highly skilled researchers here at Springtown, including 25 new recruits, play a major role in the development of ground-breaking new technology," he said.
Londonderry Chamber of Commerce president, Brian McGrath hailed the investment as "extremely welcome" news.
"It is great to see that the investment will create 25 highly skilled jobs and will bring a number of important economic benefits to the area.
“This is a clear indication and endorsement that the north west is an important place to do business and emphasises that we have impressive talent and ability throughout the region," Mr McGrath added.
Seagate’s Springtown facility is recognised as one of the foremost 200mm wafer fabrication plants in the world.
The site has grown from an initial charter of world class manufacturing in the first decade of operations to adding development and product launch capabilities in the last ten years. The facility employs over 1,400 staff and the company is estimated to have invested in excess of £1 billion in capital here over the past 25 years.
