Business: NI talent pool remains key draw for US firms

Jen Nayar, is head of FinTech firm Vela Trading Technologies which employs 85 in Belfast and has plans to recruit around 10% more people by mid 2017.

Speaking to an audience of business leaders at a ‘meet and greet’ event, she said there were many positive factors that influenced the firm to chose the city.

“It was the calibre of graduates coming out of the region’s two universities and other higher-level education institutions such as Belfast Met, as well as the rich talent pool of experienced workers in the ICT and FinTech sectors,” she said.

“Their knowledge and skill, strong work ethic, and can-do attitude have helped us to remain true to our key values of teamwork, technology excellence, efficiency, focus, integrity, and reliability.”

Based in New York Vela, formerly SR Labs, acquired NYSE Technologies which in turn established a foothold in Belfast through indigenous IT firm Wombat.

A leader in high performance trading and market data technology, it has offices in London, Chicago, Pune, and Manila and a global staff of 175.

Ms Nayar’s endorsement follows similar comments from one of the largest international presences as James Bardrick, Citi ‘s UK chief and CEO of Citigroup Global Markets, reaffirmed its commitment to the province despite Brexit.

“Citi does not anticipate any reduction in its operations as a result of Brexit and would hope in the coming years to increase its operations in Belfast as opportunities arise.”