Architect trumpets quality of workforce as city office opens

A TOP architecture firm is opening up a new office in Belfast with the creation of 13 new jobs.

MoreySmith, founded in 1993 and headquartered in London, provides architectural design, interior and exterior refurbishment and branding services to both occupiers and developers.

The new office will be headed by Lesley Kelley, director of architecture.

Some of its clients have included Coca-Cola, Primark and JP Morgan.

Mr Kelley, who is originally from Northern Ireland, said: “We identified Belfast as the location to grow MoreySmith operations because of the strong range of skillsets Northern Ireland has to offer.

“There will be opportunities for recent university graduates, as well as experienced senior architects to work on fantastic schemes across Europe,” he added.

The new roles will be in place by 2020.

Invest NI is offering the company £78,000 towards creating the jobs.

Alan Wilson, director of international investment at Invest NI, said: “MoreySmith has worked with a number of high profile clients including Sony Music, Primark, Coca-Cola, JP Morgan Investment and Ballymore (on Dublin Landings).

“They are now expecting to grow sales over the next three years, and are looking into expand further into the European market.

“To support this growth, MoreySmith has opened a new office in Belfast, offering exciting opportunities for local architects.”

Meanwhile, this week it was revealed sportswear giant O’Neill’s is creating 175 jobs as part of a major expansion at its Co Tyrone base.

That news came amid a series of major job cuts across Northern Ireland, including up to 95 at Wrightbus in Ballymena.

And last month it was revealed Kilroot power station in Carrickfergus will close in May with the loss of around 240 jobs, while its sister station at Ballylumford will see around 30 staff cut.

And last week around 440 job losses emerged in the space of one day. Williams Industrial Services (WIS), which employed 145 people in Mallusk, has been put into administration.

Energy firm NIE Networks has also said it is cutting 90 jobs.