Almost 600 new jobs are to be created across Northern Ireland by Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS), Economy Minister Diane Dodds has announced.

HGS, a global provider in business process management (BPM) and customer experience management, is set to create a total of 565 jobs across the province.

Speaking about the investment, Minister Dodds said: "It is my pleasure to welcome HGS to Northern Ireland and announce this major investment. A project of this scale will deliver a real boost for our economy, generating additional annual salaries of around £10m once fully implemented.

"The creation of over 560 jobs, all of which can be home-based, will provide job opportunities across the whole of Northern Ireland. This provides important employment options for those in rural communities and those who will be attracted to working from home through lifestyle or necessity.

"This also brings environmental benefits including reduced energy use and costs, along with less travelling for staff, less time away from home leading to improved work-life balance, less stress and more flexibility."

Around 100 jobs are already in place, with people recruited from every council area in Northern Ireland.

Invest Northern Ireland has worked extensively to help secure this project for Northern Ireland. £1,695,000 of support has been offered to the company to secure the project and to help create 565 new jobs.

Adam Foster, CEO of Hinduja Global Solutions UK, said: "Our business was already growing but the last 12 months have been particularly strong. This growth means we need to expand our team.

"We focus on clients and contracts where we can build longer term strategic relationships and bespoke solutions.

"We were attracted to Northern Ireland by the positive experience of others, the availability of talented people, and the good connectivity infrastructure which is so important to our homeworking model.

"There can be some misperceptions of business processing/contact centre type businesses, but we really pride ourselves on our positive culture at HGS. Our use of technology-powered services including automation, analytics and digital for back office processing frees up our staff to focus on higher-value and more interesting work. We provide equal opportunities for all employees and support them to take ownership of their actions, be proud of their achievements and celebrate successes."

Kevin Holland, CEO, Invest Northern Ireland, said: "A project of this scale and type helps contribute to a balanced spread of economic development and recovery across Northern Ireland. It helps address the barriers some people face to access quality employment and this can help reduce economic inactivity.

"This particular project has diverse roles including customer agents, managers, and support roles. I know the HGS team is committed to delivering these new roles and growing beyond. We in turn are keen to ensure their Northern Ireland experience meets and then exceeds their expectations."