50 NI tech jobs created through O2 and Barclay collaboration


5 May 2009

A £16m sterling partnership between O2 and Northern Irish telecoms provider Barclay Communications will result in the creation of 50 jobs over the next 10 months.

Barclay Communications, which currently employs 160 people, was established in 1997 in a small Larne shop called Fonezone to provide Northern Ireland with mobile phones. It has since grown into a UK-wide provider of business telecommunications solutions.

“This is a groundbreaking deal for us; we have been working closely and successfully with O2 for years, integrating its customer care policies into our own, and we guarantee to provide its business clients with an exemplary service,” said managing director of Barclay Communications, Britt Megahey.

“As an industry-leading provider, we are honoured that O2 finds Barclay Communications’ service the ideal vehicle to continue its market share expansion.”

As part of the partnership, O2 will transfer all of its Northern Irish SME contracts over to Barclays Communications, which will continue to function as the key point of contact for O2’s customers in the region.

Head of business (SME) sales at O2, David Plumb, commented on the new partnership: “We are delighted to announce Barclay Communications as an exclusive partner and a centre of excellence for business. This deal is testament to the excellent quality of service Barclay provides.

“Barclay is the perfect partner to help us expand our presence and grow our market share throughout the UK, supplying our entire range of business-to-business solutions across mobile and web,” Plumb added.

By John Kennedy