http://www.enn.ie/news.html?code=9590639 India's HCL to create jobs in Armagh Friday, February 25 2005 by Matthew Clark
India-based HCL Technologies has taken control of another contact centre in Northern Ireland, making it the largest business process outsourcing (BPO) firm in the region.

HCL said on Thursday that it had purchased the assets of AnswerCall Direct (ACD) in a deal worth about INR294 million (EUR5.1 million). Late last year, AnswerCall slipped into receivership, following the loss of a major contract the year before.

According to reports in the Indian press, HCL also received assistance from the Northern Ireland government amounting to STG900,000, aimed at helping the firm to create more jobs at the former ACD site. The company is set to receive a further STG3 million if it can create up to 400 more jobs at the facility, which is based in Armagh and employs almost 200 currently.

For HCL, the buy is its second in the province, following on from its takeover of British Telecom's former Belfast contact centre, which went by the name Apollo. That 2001 acquisition, in conjunction with the new Armagh AnswerCall Direct site, has made HCL the largest business process outsourcing (BPO) firm in the North -- and one of the biggest private sector employers, with headcount levels soaring to around 1,800, thanks in part to substantial support from Invest Northern Ireland.

"We are delighted that HCL's decision to acquire AnswerCall Direct not only helps in securing more of the jobs at Armagh, but also sends out a clear message to international investors that Northern Ireland offers a strong value proposition, particularly for outsourced contact centres, software development and shared services centres," said Leslie Morrison, CEO of Invest Northern Ireland, in an Economic Times, India report.

Though its Northern Ireland operations consist primarily of contact centres, HCL has its fingers in several other pies, including IT consulting, application engineering, software development, and systems design and integration. The firm, headed by Shiv Nadar, was formed 20 years ago and now has operations in 15 countries, with annual revenue of USD568 million for the year ended 30 June 2004.

AnswerCall Direct, meanwhile, has had a more troubled history. In April of 2003, ACD said that it would create over 400 new jobs at the Armagh contact centre under a STG7.3 million investment backed by Invest NI. That deal was designed to bring employment levels to some 700 jobs by 2006. But by September 2003, the company was shedding jobs after the loss of a contract, with the firm going into receivership 13 months later.