BELFAST technology company Locate a Locum, which helps locum healthcare professionals find flexible work opportunities, is investing £1.3 million in research & development and creating a 14 jobs in software engineering, marketing and sales.
The software firm - which is benefitting to the tune of £233,045 from Invest NI support - has established itself in the retail pharmacy market across Britain with its on-demand booking platform.
And having added automated payment functionality, it is now investing in new product development to diversify its offering across the healthcare market to include health and social care workers, opticians and dentists.
Locate a Locum founder and chief executive Jonny Clarke said: “Innovation is crucial to the growth of our business, and this latest investment in automated payment functionality is our most ambitious product development to date.
“Payments to locums are still processed manually so there is a gap in the market for a full service. The benefit of this is obvious, especially in the current times.
“Invest Northern Ireland’s support since 2017 has been invaluable, including its help to develop our platform to service pharmacy customers more effectively. We are already seeing success in the care home sector, and have secured multiple deals, such as with Inspired2Care in Londonderry.
“The new team members will help us to increase our capabilities so we can bring the product to life and grow in new exports markets such as Canada, South Africa and Australia.”
Dr Vicky Kell, director of innovation, research and development at Invest NI, said: “When we started working with Locate a Locum it had just two employees, now it will grow to a team of over 40 people.
“This latest investment will help it to develop a more comprehensive package for existing clients and drive sales in new markets.”
Locate a Locum currently services more than 8,000 pharmacies including Boots, Superdrug and Lloyds. Its platform has 12,000 registered locum pharmacists, the largest pool in the UK.
