Fintech firm doubles workforce to 200 as it moves to new Belfast office
A US company providing cloud IT services to global capital markets has announced it’s doubling its workforce to 200 as it moves into new offices in Belfast.
Options will be based at Linen Loft in Adelaide Street, and said the move will bring 100 new posts in addition to the 100 created when it first opened in Belfast in 2014.
The company announced a major investment of around $100m earlier this year from New York private equity fund, Bregal Sagemount.
It’s led in Belfast by company chief operating officer Danny Moore, and the office here is now recruiting for roles in technical
Opportunities: Danny Moore
support, engineering, cybersecurity, account management, and marketing.
Options also has offices in London, New York and Hong Kong.
Mr Moore said: “As well as providing greater opportunity for Belfast’s dynamic and highly educated workforce, the growth of our Belfast operations will help deliver critical support, sophisticated engineering and secure managed services to Options’ global client base.
“We are delighted to be part of Belfast’s rapidly expanding financial technology hub and are confident that the breadth of local talent, both technical and non-technical, will ensure our new headquarters, state-of-theart training facilities and technology resources are an integral part of our mission to transform the sector.”
Mr Moore is the former chief operating officer of NYSE Technologies — one of the first fintech foreign direct investors into Northern Ireland — as well as serving as chief executive of trading technology firm Wombat Financial Software. He also worked for Newry-based financial software and consulting firm First Derivatives during the early part of his career.
Options has now moved into its new offices, after previously occupying space at the European Commission building on Belfast’s Dublin Road.
Stephen Morrow, Options head of account management, said: “From outstanding industry expertise to computer science and engineering talent, Belfast has been instrumental in the development of our business in recent years.
“In what is a period of vast innovation and global expansion for Options, the opening of our new offices in Adelaide Street will ensure Options continues to raise the bar for service excellence and cement the next phase of growth for the firm.”
Founded in 1993 in London, Options began as a hedge fund technology services provider and later diversified to become the first provider to offer private cloud services to the financial sector. It opened its first US base in 2005, and then opened in Asia three years later. It now provides ‘front to back office’ cloud infrastucture to over 200 clients around the world, including global investment banks, hedge funds and private equity houses.
It was named among the UK’s leading growth companies in the 2018 and 2017 Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 league table.