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EY (Ernst & Young) To Create Almost 500 New Belfast Jobs

29 Apr 2014

EY (Ernst & Young) To Create Almost 500 New Belfast Jobs

Professional services giant EY (formerly Ernst & Young) has announced almost 500 new Belfast jobs will be created in the next four years as the firm opens a new business centre in the Northern Irish city.

Many of the new Belfast vacancies at EY will be graduate jobs, but the company will also be recruiting experienced auditors, consultants and advisers to liaise with their clients. Recruitment for the 486 jobs is expected to get underway this summer and the new employees of EY can expect an average starting salary close to £40,000.

By the end of 2018, EY will have increased its headcount in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland by around 30 per cent to somewhere near 2,000 employees. Worldwide, EY employs over 170,000 graduates and professionals at over 700 locations, but has its main headquarters in London.

Speaking about the new business unit in Belfast and the reasons for creating a presence in the city, managing partner at EY, Mike McKerr, said the company had been working closely with Invest Northern Ireland, a jobs creation agency which is providing £3 million in funding towards the new jobs.

“We are delighted to bring this investment to Belfast which will further enhance our current service offering to clients. As a global company with a presence in more than 150 countries, we continually evaluate the best locations for expansion to ensure maximum productivity and growth. The [new] roles will comprise of a mobile and static workforce, providing assurance and advisory services to EY's UKI domestic and international client base,” said Mr Kerr.

First Minister of Northern Ireland, Peter Robinson, welcomed the EY announcement, saying it was fantastic news for the city and, coupled with the presence of rival professional services firms like PwC and Deloitte having offices in Belfast, should encourage more international companies to invest in the city as a work location.

“Alternative global locations were considered by the company so securing these high quality jobs has been a real coup,” said the First Minister, whose Northern Ireland Executive will fund £19 million per year towards salaries for the new recruits once all of the graduate and other vacancies are filled.

The chairman of the Chartered Accountants Ulster Society, Paul Henry, also praised the investment by EY in Belfast and all of the effort that had gone into making the deal materialise:

“A significant number of quality jobs like this is very encouraging and is a good indicator of increasing demand for business services across the economy. I congratulate all of those involved in helping to secure this significant investment,” said Mr Henry.

If you have already graduated and are looking for a career then we’ll do our best to help you find a graduate job in the UK - no matter whether you live in Belfast, Brighton, Barry, the Borders or any other town or city in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But, if you are still studying in Belfast and would like to pick up some flexible work, either during term time or in the holidays, then check out the latest part time vacancies for students on our page of Belfast Student Jobs.

You can also find out more about what it like to work for the big professional services firms on our company profile pages for EY, KPMG, PwC and Deloitte.

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