OREANDA-NEWS. Arlene Foster, Minister for Enterprise Trade and Investment, alongside SSE Finance Director Gregor Alexander, today, officially opened SSE's new corporate headquarters and customer service centre for Northern Ireland located at Millennium House in Belfast City Centre.

Bringing together its 100 staff at one location, the move marks a significant landmark for the FTSE Top 50 listed company, who have invested around half a billion pounds in Northern Ireland since 2008.

SSE's new corporate headquarters will also be home to a further 143 new jobs recently announced by the company and supported by Invest NI. These roles, including corporate sales, customer care and business improvement, will support SSE's growing energy business in Ireland.

Today's opening rounds off a busy period for SSE in Northern Ireland. This included the launch of its new retail brand campaign "Proud to Make a Difference" offering new and returning customers Northern Ireland's biggest ever 20% electricity discount; the launch of the new SSE Scholarship Fund, with £100,000 distributed amongst more than 20 students from the University of Ulster and South West Regional College; and the recently announced 143 new jobs in Belfast.

Arlene Foster, Minister for Enterprise Trade and Investment, said:

"After making the initial jobs announcement, of 143 new jobs, in August of this year I am delighted to officially open SSE's new offices. As well as the new jobs, this office consolidates its sales, customer service and credit control functions into a fit for purpose premises and will help SSE support its growing Northern Ireland customer base.

"This is a clear commitment by the company to Northern Ireland and also demonstrates further growth in this important business sector. I am pleased Invest Northern Ireland has been able to assist in this expansion through the offer of almost £700,000 of support for the jobs and associated training through its Skills Growth Programme."

SSE Finance Director and Lead Director for Ireland, Gregor Alexander said:

"The opening of our new office at Millennium House is a statement of how focused we are on delivering a first class service for our customers in Northern Ireland. This means realising the benefits that competition, better customer service and innovation bring. We are also very proud to continue delivering on our commitment to invest here and create employment."

"In the last six years, SSE's business in Northern Ireland has grown from strength to strength. From small beginnings SSE Airtricity brand has established itself as Northern Ireland's second largest energy supplier with a 30% share of the combined electricity and natural gas market. We have invested around half a billion in Northern Ireland so far, we've grown our workforce from 10 employees to over 100 with a further 143 positions to be filled, our retail business now has 300,000 home and business customers compared to just 7,000 six years ago and are producing electricity with almost 90MW is green energy for our customers in NI. SSE also expects to invest a further £50m in the near term in needed electricity generation capacity of which £20m will be spent in local communities".

"There is great excitement around SSE's business in Northern Ireland and the teamwork that drives that will power our continued growth here. Our new home in Millennium House, offers our team in Northern Ireland, the platform to continue to build our business into the future and I look forward to sharing in our future successes."