Launched by Abbey, with support from Invest Northern Ireland and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the initiative will target new Abbey employees, primarily school leavers, helping to develop their financial services skills through a four-year structured career progression programme.
Developed in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Banking, the initiative will result in Abbey staff receiving a formally recognised financial services qualification, as well as Chartered Banker Status.
Speaking at the Abbey Building in Belfast, the Minister said: “Northern Ireland now boasts some of the world’s most prestigious financial services names. Indeed at the recent US-NI Investment Conference, Invest NI’s success in attracting and retaining investment from this industry was profiled on a global stage.
“Central to this success has been a commitment to enhancing and tailoring the existing skills base to meet the specific needs of such international firms.
“Working with Invest NI, Abbey’s development of, and commitment to, this new initiative will not only help to boost the competitiveness of Abbey’s operations, it will offer our young people structured career progression opportunities in a key growth sector. Initiatives like this will serve to strengthen our reputation as a location for quality financial services investment.”
Glenn Lindsay, Director of Telephone Distribution, Abbey, added: “Abbey is one of the UK’s longest established and highly respected financial services companies because of our commitment to service excellence.
“Chartered Banker Status is recognised globally by major financial services institutions and, with degree level equivalence, represents a high standard of financial services competence, quality and best practice. Combined with the four-year structured career progression programme it will help us to sustain the growth of our NI operations in an increasingly competitive global industry.”
Notes to Editors:
- Invest NI has offered £41,558 towards a total investment of £118,738. The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is part funding the project via Invest NI’s Business Improvement Training Programme.
- Abbey and Santander - Santander is the largest bank in the euro zone by market capitalisation and fifth in the world by profit. Founded in 1857, Santander has EUR 912,915million in assets and EUR 1,063,892million in managed funds, 65 million customers, 11,178 branches and a presence in 40 countries. It is the largest financial group in Spain and Latin America, and is the sixth largest bank in the United Kingdom, through its Abbey subsidiary, and is the third largest banking group in Portugal.
- In the UK, Abbey has 705 branches, operates over 2,500 cash machines and employs 16,000 staff. It provides mortgages, savings, current accounts credit cards, insurance, asset management and private banking services to 18 million customers.
- The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is part funding the project via Invest NI’s Business Improvement Training Programme.
- Media enquiries to DETI Press Office: Tel:028 9052 9297. Out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.
