Abbey National calls Belfast

NEWS Abbey National has announced the creation of 236 jobs in its Mays Meadow call centre in Belfast, as part of a £8.4m investment. The project includes telesales and customer services operations, and an IT development centre employing 100 staff. The total investment will bring 672 jobs to Northern Ireland from 6 April. The £1.3m IT centre will handle support projects for Abbey National's retail banking sector. Andrew Pople, MD of Abbey's retail division, said the local availability of a well educated, positive and friendly workforce was a prime reason for the move. Abbey National received £1.4m from the Industrial Development Board toward the project.