Companies in the UK increasingly view Ireland as the best place to do business in the EU. That’s why financial service consultancy Albany Beck – which first established itself in Ireland in 2018 – is strengthening its workforce in Dublin and bringing in top local expertise to support its expansion.
Former head of Bank of Ireland’s FDI team, Derek Collins has joined the firm’s board and will use his considerable experience to guide growth in the years ahead. This follows the news that Albany Beck is launching an EU Operations Centre in Dublin, which will create 100 new jobs over the next three years.
Collins says: “It’s an exciting time to be involved in financial services in Ireland because of the opportunities that are emerging in the sector. I’m really looking forward to helping Albany Beck take advantage of them, so it can continue growing strongly and creating much-needed jobs as we come out of the pandemic.
“We have a huge depth of talent in this country, particularly in software development and banking, which is one of the reasons Albany Beck chose to establish itself here and why I’m optimistic about the future.”
Tapping into this talent will boost Albany Beck’s ability to provide expert support across KYC, AML, technology, data and operations. This will enable Albany Beck to build on the considerable success it has already enjoyed in Ireland, having won several international projects for high-profile financial services and technology clients.
Leading this drive for growth are two Irish professionals with years of consulting experience in both London and Dublin. Partner Adam Kelly and associate partner Celia Johnson have extensive knowledge of working with clients to overcome their tech challenges and implement effective solutions for their organisations.
Johnson says: “Being a part of Albany Beck’s continued growth in my home country over the past 18 months has been a journey of both pride and passion. Spending so much time in Ireland prior to Covid-19, I’ve watched us grow by developing new client relationships, helping them build their teams, hit regulatory commitments, and deliver transformational programmes”.
Business imperative
As it expands, Albany Beck will continue to push for diversity and inclusion (D&I) in a sector that often struggles to recruit from under-represented communities. This is a business imperative, according to Johnson.
“We are committed to embedding diversity and inclusion throughout our company,” she says. “To create change you have to do more than talk about it: you need to put in place practical steps that genuinely support people from a range of backgrounds into the consulting and finance industries. This is both the right thing to do and good for business. Diverse teams bring diverse perspectives which deliver better results.”
With this in mind, the company has signed up to the Race Fairness Commitment to strengthen its own policies and help it monitor how well it is performing. The commitment sets out a number of practical steps an organisation must take to make sure everybody is given an equal chance of success, both in the recruitment process and during someone’s time there.
Recruiting diverse candidates is the first step, but creating a supportive environment in which they can thrive and want to remain is equally as important.
To help amplify this message, Albany Beck hosts a regular video series with leading industry figures who discuss how the financial sector can encourage diversity and inclusion, and what more it needs to do.
For Albany Beck, ongoing success in Ireland isn’t just about growth. It’s about growing in the right way.