Diageo Northern Ireland has announced that it is creating 39 jobs at its Boucher Road site in South Belfast which will house Diageo’s entire customer service support team.

The new jobs will add to Diageo’s 400 staff across its Northern Ireland sites which include Bushmills Distillery, Bailey’s production facility at Mallusk, the company’s bottling and packaging plant in East Belfast and its existing sales and marketing division on the Boucher Road. Commenting on the announcement Michael McCann, Country Director, Diageo Northern Ireland, said, “We are delighted that 39 new jobs have been created within our Boucher Road site.  28 of these new employees are already in training and by October 2012, there will be 50 dedicated customer service employees in Belfast, servicing all of Diageo’s customers throughout the island of Ireland. “The announcement that Diageo’s Customer Services Centre for Ireland will be managed solely from Belfast is good news for Northern Ireland and a reflection of our long term commitment and contribution to the local economy. “In Northern Ireland Diageo has great people and great infrastructure and I am looking forward to the contribution our new employees will make in supporting our customers and ensuring that they continue to receive a first class level of service.  Awarded Northern Ireland Responsible Company of the Year in 2010, Diageo is the world's leading premium drinks business trading in over 180 global markets.

Arlene Foster, Minister for the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment welcomed Diageo’s job announcement, she said, “This is another welcome boost to the food and drink processing sector in Northern Ireland, bringing much-needed employment opportunities and strengthening Diageo’s presence here. As our biggest single manufacturing industry, food and drink processing continues to make an increasingly significant contribution to our economy, performing well even in difficult economic conditions, and today’s announcement underlines the importance of global companies such as Diageo to the sector.”

ENDFor further information contact Shane Finnegan on 028 90 663000 or 07764534565.