Kilkenny gets big boost as two firms announce 130 new jobs

Taxback to add 80 new roles as fund management firm Carne to create 50 jobs

Financial services firms Taxback and Carne are creating a number of new roles in Kilkenny
Financial services firms Taxback and Carne are creating a number of new roles in Kilkenny

Irish VAT recovery specialist Taxback International is to create 80 new jobs at its Kilkenny headquarters, the company said on Friday.

The firm said recruitment for the new roles is already under way, with Taxback looking to recruit candidates in sales and marketing and research and development.

The jobs announcement comes as Taxback said it is seeing increased demand for its services from clients.

Established in 1996 by entrepreneur Terry Clune, the Taxback group employs over 1,200 people globally.

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It has been a busy month for the group with its subsidiary TransferMate announcing a €30 million investment from AIB earlier this week. Recently filed accounts for TransferMate show it recorded strong growth last year as revenues jumped 18 per cent.

Elsewhere, the founder of a fund management business which has just announced the creation of 50 new high-quality jobs said Brexit presents an opportunity in the sector as UK-based companies aim to “future-proof” their operations.

Irish-based global provider of fund management company solutions to the asset management industry, Carne, currently employs 150 people in a number of countries and is recruiting 50 more at its new centre of excellence in Kilkenny city.

Opportunities

The positions will be in the areas of regulatory compliance and risk management and will be technology-centred and Carne are looking for graduates and people with experience of this sector to boost its staff profile, according to founder and chief executive John Donohoe.

Asked at the jobs announcement about the challenges or opportunities presented by Brexit, Mr Donohoe said: “A lot of our UK clients are looking for Brexit solutions to future-proof them so they can continue to sell their products into Europe, so we’re working with a lot of them to come up with solutions. Some of them will set up in Ireland themselves but a lot of them will decide to use Carne as their solution going forward.”

He said the approach of Brexit “presents opportunity for Ireland, and Carne is scaling up in part to ensure it is sufficiently prepared to meet market demands dictated by Brexit”.

With operations currently in Dublin, London, New York, Chicago, the Channel Islands, Switzerland and Luxembourg, the company could expand further in future, he said.

“We don’t have a particular limit on the number of jobs and, in addition to that, our other offices are looking to develop centres of excellence,” Mr Donohoe told reporters.

Mr Donohoe, who founded Carne in 2004, said the main reason the company picked Kilkenny for the new base is “the talent that’s available in the region”.

Charlie Taylor

Charlie Taylor

Charlie Taylor is a former Irish Times business journalist