Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ambition Magazine

NEWS

The First Minister and deputy First Minister have welcomed a major investment by Seagate Technology Holdings at its plant in Derry/Londonderry. The £115 million investment over five years in the development of new hard drive technology will strengthen the position of Seagate’s North West facility as a world leader in nanophotonics R&D engineering and create a number of new jobs. Speaking during a visit to the site to mark the announcement, First Minister Michelle O’Neill said: “Since Seagate established in Derry in 1993, it has become a world-class manufacturing facility and one of the area’s largest employers. The company continues to offer high quality jobs and career opportunities for local people and contributes millions of pounds to our economy. Ministers welcome £115m investment by Seagate Technology

“As an Executive we are committed to promoting regional balance, and this latest investment by Seagate is another welcome boost for the North West that will bring new jobs and significant benefits to local people and communities.” Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said: “We want Northern Ireland to be at the forefront of global innovation and this investment demonstrates the strength of our talent and our capacity to compete on the world stage in cutting-edge technology sectors. “The growth of Artificial Intelligence presents major opportunities and this substantial commitment from Seagate reinforces our position as a hub for innovation and technological excellence and will ensure we can continue to drive economic growth.” A leading producer of mass data storage solutions, Seagate is working to develop technology for a 60TB+ hard drive. And its North West facility, which manufactures recording heads that read and write data on to hard disks, will play a critical role in the development of the next generation hard drive.

AAB has announced the latest step in its rapid growth journey with the acquisition of Integrity Financial Management in addition to a strategic brand consolidation. This rebrand reinforces AAB Wealth’s reputation as a national, independent chartered financial planning firm delivering high-quality, evidence-based financial advice to individuals, families, and business owners. Andrew Dines, head of AAB Strategic growth journey continues for AAB

CBRE NI strengthens long-term strategy by adopting employee ownership trust model CBRE NI, a member of the CBRE affiliate network, has adopted an innovative new ownership model that will ensure employees benefit fully from the future growth of the company. The business has established an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), becoming one of a growing number of Northern Ireland firms to embrace this model. Mills Selig and Maneely McCann advised on the structuring of the deal, which marks a significant milestone for CBRE NI. Under the arrangement, the EOT acquires shares in the company on behalf of employees, who become beneficiaries of the trust. Alongside this, a new shareholding has been created for qualifying directors through an Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) scheme. CBRE NI Managing Director Brian Lavery and fellow main board directors Gerard McCann and Robert Ditty have retained a significant shareholding, and remain in their current roles. Mr Lavery commented: “CBRE NI is Northern Ireland’s largest commercial real estate services and investments company, and our priority is to future-proof the business to ensure we deliver on our long-term strategy. “Moving to an Employee Ownership

Trust marks an exciting innovation for our business, enabling us to grow further while enhancing our reputation and rewarding the people who make our success possible. It moves away from the more traditional partnership ownership model which was previously prevalent in the professional sector. “For our clients, it is very much business as usual, with the added assurance that those driving our achievements will now share directly in the company’s future growth.”

Wealth, commented: “This rebranding, combined with the acquisition of Integrity Financial Management,

marks an exciting phase in the continued expansion of AAB Wealth. We’re proud to bring our teams together under one distinguished name and combine our talents to deliver even greater value for our clients.”

ASG becomes first Northern Ireland agency to earn IPA effectiveness honour ASG has been awarded the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) Effectiveness Accreditation, becoming the first Northern Ireland agency ever to achieve this prestigious recognition. Forty-four agencies across the UK have earned the 2025 IPA Effectiveness Accreditation for demonstrating their commitment to business effectiveness and delivering commercial outcomes for clients, setting the benchmark for the industry. Valerie Ludlow, chief executive of ASG and former IPA Northern Ireland chair, commented: “We’re really proud to be the first Northern Ireland agency to achieve this recognition. Achieving IPA Effectiveness Accreditation is something I’ve worked towards with the team for the past few years, re-engineering how we deliver for clients and building effectiveness into everything we do.”

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