The Investor:What do one of the world's top rock bands, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and the city of Derry have in common?
Believe it or not, it is the American technology giant Seagate. The Red Hot Chill Peppers' music engineer uses Seagate hard drives to archive their live shows.
Seagate's Springtown facility in Derry employs more than 1,300 people in the development and manufacture of read-write heads for hard drives. According to John Spangler, vice-president at Springtown, it is the most productive factory of its type in the global recording head industry. It currently supplies more than a million heads a day for Seagate disc drives. Seagate also operates in Limavady; in total it employs 2,100 people and has invested some €530 million in the North to date.
Spangler says the group initially took a leap of faith investing in Northern Ireland in the early 1990s. "Some of the most conservative people in the world are the people who make decisions in the boardroom.
"American television always covered the bad side of life in Northern Ireland - there wasn't too much of the everyday side of life. So investing in Northern Ireland at that time was a difficult decision. It wasn't such a bright picture then.
"But a lot of people at what is now Invest Northern Ireland and local politicians invested a lot of time and effort with Seagate and they saw a bright future here.
"Seagate decided that investing was the right thing to do. It was a little unusual because a lot of companies wouldn't have taken the risk."
Spangler says it is a decision which the group has not regretted. He believes the combination of local talent and the training provided by Seagate has created a ideal marriage.
Seagate's Springtown facility currently produces more than 100 million heads annually. One in five of all hard disk drives contain a recording head with thin film wafers made in Derry.
Spangler says Seagate's experience as an investor in Northern Ireland has been quite positive. But he personally believes that the North could be losing out on other investors because of the current rate of corporation tax.
"I think when you have a different tax structures in place on an island this size, one area is at a disadvantage. My personal viewpoint is it's important that on an island everyone should be playing on the same playing field and it should be level.
"To me it makes a lot of sense. I understand of course that there are compliancy factors, but certain businesses are at a disadvantage because of the tax structures. A level playing field would increase employment and create more business opportunities."
As an American currently living in Derry, he says the people more than make up for the drawbacks when it comes to the weather.
"I heard my favourite quote about the area in a local pub when someone was asked to describe Derry: they said it has cold weather, but warm people and I have to agree."
