Seagate's Springtown plant gets £60m boost

Hard drive giant teams up with Invest Northern Ireland to create almost 100 research and development jobs

Teaming up: Seagate is funding a new research facility at Queen's University Belfast

Hard drive vendor Seagate Technology has pooled resources with Invest Northern Ireland to pour a £60m investment into its plant at Springtown in Derry.

The storage behemoth is to stump up about £47.3m, with the public body providing the rest in grants. The cash will be spent on research and development resources, leading to the creation of 85 new jobs at Springtown and 10 research positions at Queen's University Belfast (QUB).

Seagate opened the doors on the Springtown facility 17 years ago and now employs about 1,400 people there. The storage firm's chief executive Steve Luczo claimed the new investment is "of major importance to Seagate globally".

“Technical innovation is the cornerstone of our success and the decision to locate this important strategic R&D investment in Northern Ireland is a measure of our confidence not only in the Springtown operation, but also in the wealth of intellectual talent available here," he added.

Luczo was equally effusive in his praise for QUB, and predicted the partnership would be a fruitful one in years to come.

"We look forward to further developing our strong and mutually productive association," he said. "QUB has a worldwide reputation for excellence and innovation in digital electronics and related fields.

"We hope that the collaboration that we announce today, establishing a new research facility at the university’s Department of Physics, will be a catalyst for many more positive developments in the future.”