Why Belfast?
Belfast - Capital of Northern Ireland
Belfast is associated with traditional industries such as shipbuilding and manufacturing, but it also has a rich creative sector, a thriving student population and has in recent times become one of the UK’s leading tech hubs. The city is a ‘living lab’, bursting with talent, pioneering research and innovation.
Belfast is preparing for the future and harnessing its talent pool, creativity and technical infrastructure to build innovative solutions that will ensure future growth.
Belfast is home to two leading universities, Queen’s University (Russell Group) and Ulster University (with its city centre campus next to Smithfield Yard)
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340,220
City population1
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£48k
GVA per head2
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1 million
Belfast region population2
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33%
Population with degree level education or higher2
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43%
One of the youngest cities in Europe with 43% of the population under 30 years of age2
Belfast is the 2nd fastest growing knowledge economy in the UK3
Belfast ranks 2nd in the FDI Strategy Global Cities of the future3
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1st
Northern Ireland was the top performing region in the UK for GCSEs in 2018
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70%
of IT professionals hold a degree (8% above the UK average)4
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900
international companies are located in Northern Ireland, employing over 100,000 people2
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80%
of businesses that locate in Belfast choose to re-invest2
1Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency - Mid Year Population Estimates 2018
2Belfast City Council - www.investinbelfast.com
3Invest NI
4Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
Infrastructure
Belfast has great transport links with the UK and Europe.
By Road
The site at Smithfield offers the convenience of almost immediate access to Belfast’s main orbital carriageway of the Westlink and subsequently the North and South bound motorways. M1/A1 links between Belfast and Dublin mean a typical journey between the capital cities is less than 2hrs.
By Bus
The Metro and Belfast Rapid Transit – Glider networks offer modern and frequent urban bus services in the Greater Belfast area.
By Bike
Belfast is becoming increasingly cycle-friendly. Commuting by bike is getting easier with on-going investment in cycle lanes, off-road paths and riverside terraces. There are also 46 bike docking stations across the city.
By Rail
A major programme of urban development is taking place in the city: The Transport Hub will position Belfast to more effectively connect between rail and road transport. The Enterprise train between Belfast and Dublin runs 8 times daily and takes 2hrs.
By Air
Belfast has two airports offering approximately 30 direct flights to London daily, 67 weekly flights to the UK and 59 weekly flights to Europe.
George Best Belfast City Airport is approximately 2 miles from the city centre and is easily accessible by car. Belfast International Airport, is just 25 minutes away (by bus or by car), and serves numerous European destinations including Amsterdam, Barcelona and Paris.
Dublin International Airport is less than 2hrs away
By Sea
The Port of Belfast is the second largest on the island of Ireland, handling almost 60% of Northern Ireland’s seaborne trade and 20% of the entire island’s sea traffic. Routes from Liverpool, Stranraer and Cairnryan service the city.
Accommodation & Hotels
A stay in Belfast is accessible for all budgets, from the five-star opulence of The Merchant, the urban coolness of Bullitt, the commanding views of Grand Central or a funky place to crash at Flint. The large chain hotels of Hilton, Radisson Blue and Premier Inn are also within walking distance.
Connectivity
Northern Ireland’s communications infrastructure is renowned as state-of-the-art, international connectivity at a very competitive cost. The region also has a track record of staying at the forefront of communications technology.
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100%
It became the first region in Europe to achieve 100% broadband coverage and was one of the first to operate and experience high speed, next generation services with a 100-gigabyte per second transatlantic and terrestrial telecommunications link between Northern Ireland, North America and Europe. The region provides a fully digital, fully fibre optic communications network.5
Northern Ireland benefits from its own Internet backbone exchange, and telecoms costs are among the lowest in Europe. Investors have access to leading-edge telecoms infrastructure and a burgeoning telecoms6
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70
The region’s compact size also makes it an ideal testbed for new communications technology.
Northern Ireland’s telecoms industry is a highly deregulated and competitive market with over 70 operators. Deregulation means better service and lower costs6
5Ofcom - The Communications Market Northern Ireland
6Invest NI - Think Northern Ireland 12/18
Talent
'The supply of talent in Northern Ireland, particularly at graduate level, is impressive and, coupled with the support from Invest NI and Assured Skills, it makes this region a highly attractive location to grow our company.'
Darragh McCarthy, CEO, FinTrU
'The success of our current operations in Belfast was an important factor behind this latest decision to create another 600 jobs. The supply of talent in Northern Ireland, particularly at graduate level, is impressive and, coupled with the support from Invest NI and the Department for the Economy, it makes this region highly attractive to a global company like Citi seeking the best location for growth.'
James Bardrick, Citi County Officer, United Kingdom
World-leading research shows Northern Ireland has a number of globally recognised, technology related university research centres including the Intelligent Systems Research Centre (ISRC) at Ulster University, and The Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT) at Queen’s University Belfast.
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5,000
More than 5,000 people graduate annually with business-related degrees from Northern Ireland’s two world-class universities.6
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27,000
With four campuses, Ulster University caters for nearly 27,000 students of which 15,000 are next to Smithfield Yard in a new campus. This includes one of the largest provisions in computing in the UK and Ireland. It is in the world’s Top 150 young universities.6
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100
Queen’s University Belfast is over 100 years old; it is a member of the Russell Group of 24 leading UK research-intensive universities and ranked in the top 1% of universities worldwide.6
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72%
Over 72% of Northern Ireland university research activity is world-leading or internationally excellent according to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 assessment.6
FDI Pull Factors6
Belfast has been indentified as one of the cheapest cities in Western Europe for expats to live.
Brexit - Belfast is likely to have a unique position in the commercial geography of the UK and Europe post - Brexit.
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17%
Corporation tax - 19% reducing to 17% in April 2020 - 2nd lowest in Western Europe
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12%
R&D Tax Relief - 12% HMRC R&D Expenditure Credit
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20-30%
Operating costs - average 20% to 30% less than the rest of the UK and Europe
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75%
Repeat Business - Nearly 75% of new inward investors reinvest
Almost 900 international companies have invested in Northern Ireland
Workforce Drivers
The workforce are looking for Provenance, Purpose and Partnership
Millennials and Gen Z workers want a flexible workplace culture: co-working spaces, open spaces.
Currently half the global workforce is made up of younger workers: Millennials – ‘Gen Me’ and Generation Z - ‘Gen We’.
Smithfield Yard offers the flexible way of life for your workforce wants. An easily accessible city centre location with state of the art office space and also places to eat and meet amidst the city’s heritage and one of its most creative neighborhoods.
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70%
By 2025 over 70% of the global workforce will consist of Millennials and Gen Z
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35%
Gen Z now the most populous generation, making up 35% of the entire population. 72.8 million individuals
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58%
58% of Gen Z are willing to work nights and weekends but want social and leisure options near their workplace to support that
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46%
Millennials and Gen Z workers want a flexible workplace culture: The future workplace is anywhere. 46% of Gen Z’s are freelancers7
7Capital GES and Inc.
The top three criteria for young people when considering job opportunities are compensation, career growth and positive social impact. They value choices their employers make in social, environmental and regeneration agendas.
Today's workforce value:
- Face-to-face interactions
- Shared space
- Choice-rich environments
- Nature
- Provenance
Today's workforce are:
- Educated
- Positive about tech
- Entrepreneurial
- Civic-oriented
- Environmentally conscious
Growth Sectors
Financial Services Technology
Northern Ireland supplies sophisticated software for the world’s major financial institutions. Our cluster includes multinationals such as Citi, Vela Systems, CME Group, FinTrU and Fidessa as well as local companies such as First Derivatives.
Software Development
Belfast is Europe's leading location for new software development projects. Investors include: Allstate, CyberSource (a Visa company), Fujitsu, Cayan, BT, Arris and WANdisco.
Global Business Services
Northern Ireland has a depth of skills available for human resources, finance, auditing, supply chain management, customer support, marketing, consultancy and legal services. Education company, Pearson set up its Finance Services Centre in Belfast to support its global finance function.
Legal
Top legal firms including Allen & Overy, Baker McKenzie and Herbert Smith Freehills are among those who have discovered the wealth of talent available in Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland has one of the fastest growing tech clusters in the UK6
Belfast is the world’s number one destination for FinTech development investment projects and the top city in Europe for FDI software development projects
Northern Ireland is the number 1 international location for US Cyber security development projects.
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70%
70% of our IT and telecoms professionals hold a higher education qualification - the highest in the UK. We have pools of talent in the fast-growing areas of animation, AI, mobile apps and immersive technology.6
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£875m
Digital businesses generated a combined turnover of £875 million during 2017, equal to £98,000 per employee.6
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5th
One fifth of Belfast’s workforce is now employed in the digital tech sector.6
Financial Services Technology
Northern Ireland supplies sophisticated software for the world’s major financial institutions. Our cluster includes multinationals such as Citi, Vela Systems, CME Group, FinTrU and Fidessa as well as local companies such as First Derivatives.
Software Development
Northern Ireland supplies sophisticated software for the world’s major financial institutions. Our cluster includes multinationals such as Citi, Vela Systems, CME Group, FinTrU and Fidessa as well as local companies such as First Derivatives.
Global Business Services
Northern Ireland has a depth of skills available for human resources, finance, auditing, supply chain management, customer support, marketing, consultancy and legal services. Education company, Pearson set up its Finance Services Centre in Belfast to support its global finance function.
Legal
Top legal firms including Allen & Overy, Baker McKenzie and Herbert Smith Freehills are among those who have discovered the wealth of talent available in Northern Ireland.
