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Saturday, 20th April 2024 |
| Regional centre profile: Citi, Waterford |
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Citi Hedge Fund Services (Ireland), Limited (CHFS), opened the doors of its regional office in Waterford city in November 2006 with 19 staff. Today the office currently houses 90 full time staff and is well positioned to continue its steady growth, having recently signed a long-term lease to take another 10,000 sq ft in the same office building. Full hedge fund accounting and corporate secretarial functions are currently offered from the Waterford base.
When asked why Waterford Karen Tyrrell, Managing Director, said ‘There were a number of different factors which contributed to Citi Hedge Fund Services (Ireland), Limited’s decision to locate its new office in the vibrant city of Waterford. The access to a steady stream of well educated and professional graduates from the excellently run Waterford Institute of Technology, the presence of a ready to go state of the art business premises and being made feel extremely welcome and important to the region were among the many that helped swing the pendulum Waterford’s way. It has thus far proved to be an excellent decision.’
Clients needed to be convinced that service would not suffer as a result of being serviced from a regional office and that has proved to be the case with both existing clients who have transferred down and new clients who have started directly into the Waterford office all expressing their satisfaction at the service received and noting no differences or drawbacks to being serviced from a regional location.
Staff retention in the Waterford office is very high and staff from different geographic regions and industry sectors have been recruited into the organisation. Local people working in Dublin, London and further afield have been delighted with the opportunity to relocate back home without compromising career ambitions.
Declan Furlong, Director, head of the Waterford office, outlined the company strategy. ‘The plan was not to try to do too much too quickly which would weaken our knowledge base but to allow time for the proper infrastructure to be put in place, to not stretch key employees too thinly while placing a huge emphasis on training so that we could build out a solid base so as to facilitate expansion into the future,’ he said.
Testimony of the success of the office comes from both staff and clients. ‘I am delighted I made the move down to Waterford. I was a bit worried that opportunities for career progression would be limited down here, but that is not the case. The office is in a perfect location, close to all major routes and amenities,’ said one staff member. While a large client commented on the move of service location, saying, ‘The obvious advantages of the re-location including attracting quality staff to come ‘back home’ from Dublin and the ability to attract top students from the local college are only but two of the reasons. Easy access to/from London is imperative and Waterford is a beautiful city in which to be entertained and spend time.’ |
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| Article appeared in the April 2008 issue.
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