DUBLIN: Northern Trust is to recruit up to 400 staff in Limerick, making the fund management and custody giant the latest financial firm to bolster its operations in Ireland since the Brexit vote. Northern Trust, in a June 12 statement issued jointly with IDA Ireland, the country’s inward investment promotion agency, said the five-year recruitment plan would boost its presence in Limerick, where it employs 1,000 staff and has had an office since 2007. Clive Bellows, Ireland country head of Northern Trust, said: “The creation of up to 400 new jobs for Limerick underlines Northern Trust’s commitment to Ireland.” Mary Mitchell O’Connor, the Irish minister for jobs, enterprise and innovation, called the move “another great investment for Limerick”, adding: “As a government we have been working hard to make Ireland an attractive location to do business, with a minimum of administrative hurdles.” Finance minister Michael Noonan said: “In the wake of Brexit it’s important that we continue to add jobs to the local economy, and having met with Northern Trust in London late last year I’m grateful that they see Limerick as a key part of their future plans for their operations in Europe.”
Northern Trust is the latest financial institution in recent months to announce plans to grow its Irish presence. In February, Willis Towers Watson opened a fund op[erations unit in Cork, while in May Legal & General’s investment management arm outlined plans to shift parts of its operations to Dublin in the wake of the Brexit vote. The same month, JP Morgan acquired a 130,000 square foot building in Dublin to house its 500 staff working in custody, fund and transaction services, technology and operations, with space for an extra 500 mainly local recruits.
