Invest NI boss Kieran Donoghue defends record when quizzed by Derry MLA Sinéad McLaughlin

The Chief Executive pointed to recent investments by Seagate and EY, as well as the acquisition of Alchemy by Japanese giant NTT DATA, describing them as 'very, very encouraging developments’.

But Ms. McLaughlin asked for a regional breakdown of the location of 19 new inward investors attracted to the North during 2024/25.

In a paper presented to the committee a number of examples of those investors were listed – but all of the cited projects, Ms. McLaughlin pointed out – were in the Belfast area.

Anne Beggs, Invest NI Chief Commercial Officer, said: “There are a number of investors within that 19 who haven't formally announced and are either outside the Belfast area or are operating on a remote basis across NI so I just wanted to clarify that number of 19.”

The SDLP economy spokesperson asked Mr. Donoghue if any of the 19 had located in the North West.

He said he did not have the information to hand but would provide it at a later point.

Ms. Beggs, however, was able to clarify: "There are, although it hasn't necessarily been publicly announced Sinéad, but there is certainly one that has entered the area via acquisition.”

The Foyle MLA observed that it was not typical for acquisitions of existing companies to be included within inward investment figures.

The CCO also confirmed that the acquisition referred to occurred in 2024/25, advising the committee that it did not refer to the recent Alchemy/NTT DATA deal.

Ms. Beggs said a number of the 19 firms were also ‘offering roles right across NI on a remote working basis as well’.

During the briefing Mr. Donohue referred to Seagate’s recent £115m R&D investment in new hard drive technology in Springtown, billed as a move that will position the facility as a world leader in nanophotonics engineering.

"Specifically in the NW the largest R&D investment in the history of the organisation was announced in recent months, north of £110m, undertaken by Seagate, which is a a fabulous achievement both for the company and for the North West,” he said.

This was acknowledged by Ms. McLaughlin in her contribution.

“The value of that investment was made by the company in the North West. Seagate made that investment and I really value it. Seagate has been in Derry for 33 years and it is an integral part of economic outputs of the region.

"The fact that they have made this £100m investment in R&D in that site maintains that site and gives that site a future so it is of critical value and we welcome that entirely and we welvcome the investment that Invest NI has made on top of that.

“But, be sure, it is one business and Derry needs new investors now of a similar advanced and innovation type coming in to the NW.”

Mr. Donoghue, meanwhile said four of five new heads of regional business have now been appointed and in January Alison Currie will join Invest NI as Chief Development Officer. She is currently a senior director at InterTradeIreland.

Fifteen of 20 roles have been filled in Invest NI’s regional office network to date with stakeholder engagement ongoing regionally.