Foods Connected to Create 20 jobs in the North West in Major Investment
Foods Connected is making a £1.7 million investment and creating 20 new jobs to help it increase its export sales and keep up with the growing demand for its services. The Londonderry-based software firm provides a range of cloud-based software tools to help companies in the food industry manage processes and information across Supplier Approval, Quality and Trading, resulting in reduced costs and increased profitability.
Welcoming the investment, Des Gartland, Invest Northern Ireland’s North West Regional Manager, said: “Foods Connected is an export focused company which is making a major investment in the North West and creating 20 new high quality jobs. The new team will be recruited over the next two years and once in place, will generate over £800,000 annually in additional salaries to the local economy. Since participating on our Propel Programme in 2014, Foods Connected has benefited from a range of Invest NI support to reach this pinnacle point. This has included marketing assistance and support for three jobs in 2016 to assist it to increase both turnover and export sales. With this new investment, I look forward to seeing it increase its market share in the food services sector across the UK, Europe and beyond.”
Invest NI has offered Foods Connected support of £157,000 to help create the new jobs. Roles include systems developers and project management & business development roles.
Gary Tyre, Co-Founder and System Development Director of Foods Connected, said: “This investment forms part of our long term growth strategy to become a market leader in management tools for the food sector. We’ve been delighted with the practical support and expert advice provided by Invest NI which we have used to redesign our brand through the Design Active Programme, and support our company expansion plans. Over the last few years, demand for our products has grown rapidly with projects well underway with major food processors and retailers in the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Recruitment for the new jobs is underway and will give us the resources to keep up with demand and ensure we are well positioned to take advantage of the wide range of growth opportunities we have identified over the coming years.”
Foods Connected currently employs 19 staff and is located in The City Factory, Londonderry with additional offices in Belfast and Sydney.
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Pictured (L-R): Gary Tyre, Co-Founder and System Development Director of Foods Connected, and Des Gartland, North West Regional Director, Invest NI.
