Ulster Bank to relocate 650 staff to revamped city HQ

ULSTER Bank has announced it’s closing a south Belfast building and shifting 650 staff to its city centre premises, which will receive a multi-million pound refurbishment.

The bank is relocating its staff at its call centre in Danesfort, Stranmillis, to its headquarters at Donegall Square East.

There are around 800 staff in the headquarters building.

Ulster Bank said the move was part of a “significant investment” which will involve a multi-million pound refurbishment of its headquarters.

The move is to be completed by the middle of next year — and the Danesfort building will then be put on the market, the bank confirmed. Mark Crimmins, head of Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland, said: “The investment we are making will allow us to better utilise spare capacity at our headquarters building, bring our teams together in one place to encourage partnership, and to significantly upgrade facilities for our employees.

“This will allow us to provide our team members with a highly-modern, collaborative environment in which to work.”

Earlier this year the bank also announced its entrepreneur accelerator programme was moving from Lombard Street to the headquarters building in a £400,000 switch.

Four years ago Ulster Bank announced that 350 jobs would be created at the Danesfort call centre.

Customers from the wider Royal Bank of Scotland Group and NatWest were to be dealt with at Danesfort.

Speaking at the time, then First Minister Peter Robinson said the site had been identified by parent company Royal Bank of Scotland as a centre of excellence.