Swiss financial BPM Software Avaloq, in Edinburgh, Scotland
Swiss financial software company, Avaloq, has officially unveiled plans for a new software development centre in Edinburgh city centre, creating 500 new jobs including 75 graduate positions. The Swiss company, which supplies 75 banks across 20 countries with specialist BPM software, indicated it had chosen to locate in Edinburgh - the UK’s leading financial
centre outside of London - due to the high quality of Scottish education and the close proximity of numerous high-profile banks.
Despite being an internationally-established company, the centre will be Avaloq’s second software development anywhere in the world and its first outside of Switzerland.
“The UK is one of the most important strategic foreign markets for Avaloq,” said Francisco Fernandez, CEO of the company, explaining the company’s reasons for seeking a
second software centre.
“Edinburgh came top of our global search for several reasons, but one of the most important factors was due to the wealth of potential graduate talent available in
Scotland and the number of universities offering excellent degrees in software engineering. We very much believe in working with the local talent to grow this
operation and are optimistic about the forthcoming student fairs which will be used to identify the first Avaloq appointments.”
Graduate recruitment to start immediately Recruitment will start immediately for the 75 graduate employees who will begin an intensive six-month training programme with the global multinational.
The development centre is expected to employ 500 people in its first 5 years, with 20 staff to start before the end of this year alone. More graduate positions will be
expected over the next five years.
“I welcome Avaloq’s commitment to recruit 75 new graduates from Scottish universities which is terrific news for new graduates in Edinburgh and across Scotland,” said First Minister Alex Salmond as he met with senior representatives of the company.
“This is testament to the high quality of Scottish education and enhances the strength of the city’s international reputation for finance and IT services.”
‘Team Scotland’ provided important support
Scottish Development International worked extensively with the company to secure the investment to Scotland, along with the Scottish Government and Edinburgh City Council.
Francisco Fernandez, CEO
Chief executive of Scottish Development International, Anne MacColl, said: “Our "Team Scotland" approach was instrumental in bringing these jobs to Scotland. In doing so,
Scotland beat a number of other international locations being considered, and Avaloq's decision to invest here is testament both to our strong software skills base and
Edinburgh’s reputation as the leading UK financial centre outside of London.
"We are operating in a very competitive inward investment environment, and we will continue to do everything we can to encourage more companies to locate in Scotland.
"Our message is clear; Scotland is very much open for business and can demonstrate its ability to compete on a global level."
