Manchester digital marketing company SML Connect is to establish a new base that will employ 125 people at Gaoth Dobhair Business Park in Co Donegal.

The new company, SLM Éire Teo, will offer contact centre and business processing outsourcing (BPO) solutions to its clients from its new facility.

SLM Éire Teo will focus on offering both B2B and B2C service solutions through its marketing activities from Gaoth Dobhair.

The investment is supported by Údarás na Gaeltachta.

‘We looked at a number of possible options and after careful consideration we felt that Gaoth Dobhair would be a great location for the next stage of our development’

– ABDUL SALAM, SLM CONNECT

Established in 2008, SLM Connect currently employs 130 people at its contact centre facility in Manchester. The company delivers customer contact solutions for a number of blue chip mobile operators within the BPO sector.

“SLM Connect has grown its business substantially in recent times,” SLM Connect founder and CEO Abdul Salam said.

“The increase in the level of new business contracts presented us with a challenge as the business outgrew its current contact centre facility in Manchester. The company requires extra capacity in order to grow and expand.

“We looked at a number of possible options and, after careful consideration, we felt that Gaoth Dobhair would be a great location for the next stage of our development. SLM Éire will help us to expand our operations further afield, grow our business and provide us with new opportunities.”

Build it and they will come

SLM Éire Teo will be managed by Donegal man James Moran, who is moving home from the UK to manage the business.

“SLM Éire will provide digital marketing services and create sales and marketing campaigns for our clients,” said Moran.

“A significant trend in this industry is the growing number of clients who wish to outsource direct marketing functions instead of developing such infrastructure in-house. This creates an excellent opportunity for SLM Éire to service these needs and provide a ‘plug and play’ option to its clients,” he said.

SLM Éire Teo plans to begin operating from its new base this summer and will soon begin recruiting. The company plans to employ 25 people initially and hopes to increase its employment numbers substantially in the following months.

Last year, Údarás na Gaeltachta announced that it was to fund a three-year enterprise development action plan to support employment creation at the Gaoth Dobhair Business Park.

“This announcement today illustrates that the provision of an adequately resourced enterprise plan can deliver benefits for all,” said the chairperson of Údarás na Gaeltachta, Anna Ní Ghallachair.

“We have made significant progress in terms of the objectives set out in our enterprise development action plan for the area, we are beginning to see the fruits of our labour, and we look forward to continuing our work and achieving the jobs creation targets we set down.”

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Donegal image via Shutterstock