A new call centre/marketing centre on the Gaoth Dobhair Business Park is now expected to open its doors in November, three months later than originally planned, Údarás na Gaeltachta has confirmed.
Manchester based digital marketing company, SLM Connect, is to create 125 new jobs on the site within the next three years.
Earlier this year Údarás announced that the facility would be open and operational by August but SLM has not yet opened amid fears the Brexit vote may influence their decision to locate in Donegal.
Speaking to the Donegal News yesterday, Thursday, Ms Siubhán Nic Grianna, Údarás na Gaeltachta, confirmed that start up was taking slightly longer than the company expected, citing administrative procedures and processes.
However, the company now expects to begin its operations fully around the beginning of November.
Údarás has completed the redevelopment work required at the SLM facility and it’s now ready for occupation. It currently has capacity for 50 people and further provision can be made easily as employee numbers increase.
“The company has also been busy with the recruitment process. On Monday, 20 people started a Customer Sales Technique training course provided by the ETB at its training centre on the Gaoth Dobhair Business Park. The participants had undergone interviews with representatives from SLM.
“The first part of the training will take up to four weeks, after which another six weeks of training will be undertaken by the participants onsite in the SLM Ceangal Teo facility on the GDBP. The company plans to go live with its operations in November with a staff of approximately 25 people. Recruitment will be ongoing,” Ms Nic Grianna said.
When asked had the Brexit vote influenced their decision to locate in Donegal, the Údarás spokeswoman said that the company’s primary market is the UK.
“They will be trading in Sterling. The promoter has informed Údarás, although disappointed at the Brexit vote, that the investment will continue as planned,” she said.
“The first cohort of employees will begin in November. The company plans to proceed as announced, with plans to create 125 jobs over the next over years,” Ms Nic Grianna added.
The new company, SLM Éire Teo, will offer contact centre and business processing outsourcing (BPO) solutions to its clients from its new facility.
SLM Éire Teo will focus on offering both business to business (B2B) and business to customer (B2C) service solutions via multichannel marketing activities from Gaoth Dobhair.
Established in 2008, SLM Connect currently employs 130 people at its contact centre facility in Manchester.
The company delivers customer contact solutions for a number of blue chip mobile operators.
SLM Éire Teo will be managed by local Donegal man, James Moran, who is moving back from the UK to manage the operation.
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