Belfast has beaten off stiff competition from other global locations as a base for the expansion of a US consulting firm, which will create 150 new jobs.
Treliant, which works with the financial services sector, said the move will quadruple the size of its office in the city. The firm first arrived in Belfast in 2021 having bought locally founded capital markets consultancy Vox and said the city had fought hard for its latest investment.
David Samuels, CEO, Treliant LLC, said that while the firm’s history in the region is important, it had looked at a number of other potential locations.
“Belfast clearly has a strong place within the business since this is where our Capital Markets practice started,” he said. “However, as this expansion will play a pivotal role in the delivery of our growth strategy, it was important we considered all options when deciding where to invest in this large expansion.
“We reviewed different locations based on several factors – ease of doing business, knowledge of the financial sector, infrastructure and costs, for example. We had two strong contenders, but Northern Ireland became our preferred choice thanks to the combination of existing knowledge and affinity to our work, the local talent and Invest NI’s support.”
Arpund 40 of the 150 roles are already in place, with the remainder being created over the next three years.
The firm was quick to praise Invest NI, which has come in for criticism in a newly-released independent report.
“Invest NI has supported us from the early stages of building our capital markets practice,” Brendan Gorman, Chief Financial Officer for Capital Markets, Treliant, said. “As a result of this support we have been able to develop and grow the business at a much quicker rate.
“The agency’s continued support gives us the confidence to take this next, significant step and helped ensure these new jobs were created here in Northern Ireland.”
Mel Chittock, Interim CEO, Invest Northern Ireland said the agency had helped it double its workforce previously in 2020. The latest job creation is expected to contribute £4.8 million in annual salaries.
