As evidenced by the arrival of NuVasive at Maritana Gate, Waterford has the potential to become a financial services hub in the region, echoing a point made at a recent IBEC seminar held in the city.
Pointing to the success of Zurich in Wexford and State Street in Kilkenny, there’s no reason why the region cannot provide office space for businesses squeezed out of Silicon Docks in Dublin at present.
Asked about this by The Munster Express, IBEC’s Fergal O’Brien suggested that there was scope for growth in the region as long as labour supply met with the expectation of prospective employers.
We suggested that many ‘expatriated’ Waterfordians and fellow natives of the south east were keen to return from Dublin and elsewhere to return home land and raise their families. Mr O’Brien said that a central city location would be preferable as “that is where professionals wish to be working, which reflects national and international trends”.
Stressing the need to have “good jobs in city centres”, Mr O’Brien said cities benefited from a range of infrastructural additions, such as third level institutes opening offices, as Waterford has already seen via the Department of Agriculture at The Granary. IBEC’s Danny McCoy said the next budget should, if possible, be neutral, given that tax cuts would raise revenue and improve consumer confidence.
Interestingly, the seminar was told that any notions of industrial relations problems in Waterford were “a thing of the past” and were no longer seriously considered as a barrier to investment in the region by industrialists.
