One of Europe’s leading players in the production of gift vouchers and rewards, Smartbox, is to create 70 new jobs by establishing an international strategy, B2B, project management, digital, supply chain and IT centre of excellence and expanding its financial shared services centre in Dublin.
The company is already transferring its data centre to Ireland and has started recruiting for 50 new jobs with the potential to create a further 20 new jobs over the next 18 months as part of an IDA Ireland-supported investment.
“Smartbox first opened an Irish operation when it established its European Shared Services Centre in Swords, Co Dublin, in 2009,” Erwan Corre, COO of Smartbox, explained.
“This operation has been highly successful and as a result of this, Ireland will now play a major role in our plans to maintain industry leadership and expand geographically to build a dominant global presence,” Corre said.
The jobs to be created are in the areas of IT infrastructure, software development, supply chain management, digital, B2B, project management and financial management operations.
The establishment of this international centre will result in particular in the Irish operation taking full responsibility for the development of new Smartbox technology platforms to be used for global expansion.
Flow of investment in the coming months
“A central part of the Government’s plan for jobs and growth is developing and deepening the impact of multinational companies here, and targeting high-growth sectors and companies which have the potential to create large numbers of jobs,” said Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton.
“Smartbox is one such company operating in one such sector, and today’s announcement that this young company is expanding its operations here and substantially increasing its employment is great news and further evidence of what is possible in a stable Irish economy.
“By implementing the Government’s plan for jobs and growth, I am convinced that we will see a continued flow of investment and jobs from multinational companies in the coming months,” Bruton said.
Barry O’Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland, described the global leader and the inventor of the experience gift box concept.
Smartbox currently employs close to 1,000 people worldwide and offers high-quality gift boxes containing a directory of amenities and a voucher enabling the customer to choose between hundreds of selected experiences. Each gift box typically offers between 40 and 2,000 options depending on activity choice or theme, such as 100 hotels in a region, 1000 spa retreats, 50 golf weekends, and 200 culinary delights.
“The expansion of the Smartbox mandate in Ireland positions the Irish operation as a strategic partner with the parent company, enabling it to grow and expand the business to new markets and customers around the world,” O’Leary explained.
“The increase in the Smartbox mandate here displays the company’s confidence in Ireland as a location for its international operations. Ireland provides Smartbox, and companies of its calibre, with a highly skilled English language and multilingual workforce, operational flexibility, a stable business environment and among all a strong IT infrastructure,” O’Leary added.
