Law Society president Brian Speers believes that the expertise that exists in the local legal market coupled with Northern Ireland as a region successfully emerging from a conflicted society could make it an ideal destination for solving international corporate disputes.

Mediation is the process by which a neutral person chairs talks aimed at helping two opposing parties to reach an agreement they can both live with. Speers highlights Senator George Mitchell’s role in Northern Ireland’s peace talks as the perfect example of a mediator.

“Northern Ireland has emerged from a conflicted society. It has reached the point it has reached as a consequence of a meditative resolution,” he told Ulster Business. “Dispute resolution crosses borders, it is an international scene, and I think we can absolutely compete in this arena to bring commercial resolutions to cases.”

Having conducted over 50 commercial mediations, Speers is one of the most experienced mediators here, and is a visiting professor for dispute resolution at the University of Ulster’s School of Law.

He notes that, having spoken at international conferences about the possibilities of commercial mediation in Northern Ireland, it is clear that many other countries are trying to establish themselves as hubs for dispute resolution. However, he believes the province has a strong proposition and expertise comparable to anything on the international scene.

“Why is it that disputes are settled in Hong Kong or Singapore or London or Paris. Why are countries vying with one another to become centres for disputes? Because there is professional-led business to be done,” he explains.

“I think we need to get on our bikes and put on our mediation hi vis jackets and we need to be out there saying this is a great place to do business and also a great place to resolve disputes in business,” he adds.

“We have the hook of troubled society, the leadership and the mediation experience. We have a story to tell about how attitudes can be transformed, and we have the emergence of the legal sector in our economy. Legal firms are big employers, big consumers of services, big spenders of money in the local community. They can attract inward investment and export their services.”

Invest NI has an interest in this element of legal services and is understood to be in negotiations with an international dispute resolution organisation about establishing a base here in the new year.

But with the difficult economic environment leading to more disputes among local companies, Speers believes it is also something more local businesses should also consider.

More than 9 out of 10 disputes are settled before getting to trial, but this is mostly done through negotiations between solicitors. The Law Society president believes entering the mediation process would allow people to emerge feeling like they had had their day in court and been able to air their grievances and reach a commercial agreement that doesn’t feel like a hollow victory.

In some countries – including Australia and some US states – it is mandatory to ‘mediate before you litigate’. An EU mediation directive came into force in April for cross border disputes, which although stopping short of mandating it, does encourage mediation and could be very relevant here given the land border with the Republic of Ireland.

While Speers does not think we are quite ready for mandatory mediation in this part of the world, he senses there is a sea change in attitudes taking place.

“We now have a much better informed legal profession and there are now many solicitors and barristers with better knowledge about mediation and therefore better able to guide their clients towards it,” he said.

And for solicitors it is also another potential revenue stream at a time when many are struggling.

“I see this as being a response to the recession, particularly for solicitors who very traditionally saw their role as serving the local community with property and inheritances and divorces. When you think about it a lot of our indigenous businesses are family owned companies and a lot of those companies will have disputes arising between different generations, succession issues and those are very amenable to resolutions processes. Often people are just looking to ensure their legacy can continue,” he said.

“It is all about people and what you are seeking to do in a mediation process is to manage expectations and meeting their interests.”

Until the recent golfing successes of Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke, the only Irishman to have won the Open was Fred Daly in 1947. His name lives on amongst Northern Ireland’s golfers – but did you know that he didn’t just play the game, he was heavily involved in the design and development of the clubs he used – and which carried his name?

Now his son Robin, a former golf professional himself, is carrying on this tradition. Robin founded Daly Golf and designed a unique new putter which is already causing ripples across the golfing world. Indeed the distinctive design has seen the product become known in golfing circles as the ‘peanut putter’.

Drawing on his and his father’s experience as a golfer has allowed Robin to develop this new putter. The beginning of Robin’s own career in club design was sketching club ideas down on paper having listened throughout his childhood to his father coming in off the course. All golfers at all levels do this, recounting stories of the dropped shots that could have turned the 72 into a 68 or 68 into a 66!

New golf technologies are closely regulated, but Daly have been accredited as a manufacturer on the European Tour since 2009 and have built customised putters for over 40 tour players including Vijay Singh, Darren Clarke and Simon Dyson. Tour players using Daly putters have achieved a top ten finish already and the first tour win can’t be too far away.

The magic sauce is two unique technologies which improve your setup, weight distribution and feel. These are the unique Bi-Concave™ Profile and Repeatable Anchor System™ which ultimately help with a smooth and steady putting stroke and generate more confidence on the green. After that, it’s all up to you.

Robin’s magic has been translated to reality by experienced designer Alan Boyd who is now the R&D Director. But early successes with well known golfers like Vijay Singh and celebrity customers including Ruud Gullit and Len Goodman did not lead immediately to increased sales.

The chosen market route via retail outlets proved difficult and a new approach was needed. Fortunately Daly Golf pitched (literally) at the Halo business angel network and as a result gained both investment and input from Michael O’Neill and Gary McCausland. Michael and Gary’s marketing experience has resulted in a new strategy through a direct online platform coupled with a policy of grass roots support. Each retailer has the opportunity of stocking three putters and aggregating sales through the Daly website directly to customers. This means that retailers do not need to hold stock and yet the company collects immediate payment on sales.

In addition, the company directly supports the golf market – both by Sponsoring Pitch and Putt internationally and the PGA Ulster Grand Prix. They also make extensive use of social media and are the first golf OEM to introduce a Facebook store on their Facebook page where customers can buy directly.

Initially Michael was attracted by how well the Daly Putter actually worked. Interested enough to actually buy one on the night at Halo, he found that it really made a big difference to his putting. This of course inspired him to get involved with the company as belief in the product is a great starting point.

Gary, who is well known for his TV work, is another keen golfer who brings a wealth of media contacts and experience to the company. He and Michael are a good example of the truism that angels bring a lot more than ‘just money’ to a new company.

Daly Golf is now growing and well positioned to sell internationally especially via www.dalygolf.com although they have retained their coaching and custom fitting centre at Ballygowan. So if you’re interested in having a little of the Daly magic rub off on your game, you know where to go.

As Robin says: “We can’t sell you a better score, but we can and do produce the equipment that allows you to find it yourself!”

Belfast web hosting company are on an upwards Spiral

One of Northern Ireland’s biggest web hosting providers has moved to new offices in preparation for enhancing its workforce and growing its business.

Signalling that the company is defying the difficult economic circumstances out there at present Spiral Hosting officially opened its new office on Belfast’s Lisburn Road last month.

Managing Director Peter Armstrong says the company has big plans for the future.

“Over the past few years we’ve made several acquisitions and at the moment things are moving quite fast and we’re looking to expand a lot over the next year, both through organic growth and further acquisition,” he said.

“We have new offices on the Lisburn Road and that is so we can employ more people, particularly marketing people to help with the marketing side of the business and PR campaigns which we’re planning to run, as well as on the technical side. At the moment we are just a small team but we’re hoping to get a good office going here.”

Armstrong has been working in the web hosting industry for eight years. He bought the client base of a former employer in Dublin and re-launched it as Spiral Hosting in Northern Ireland in March 2007.

The company is already very much an international business, with Armstrong estimating that only about 5% of its customers are in Northern Ireland.

“We have a lot of customers in GB and the Republic and about 25% of our customer base is in the US. While we have opened a new office and are trying to concentrate on expanding in Northern Ireland, at the same time we are marketing internationally,” he explains.

“At the moment we sell in euros, dollars and pounds, but we’re getting ready to launch a new website that will support a lot more currencies. There are so many different markets we can get business from it would be silly not to try to do that.”

In terms of the business it is targeting the company hopes to attract anything from SMEs to entrepreneurial students with start-up businesses, and is appealing to that younger demographic using social media.

Its acquisition of rival web hosting company Aventure Host earlier this year has also given Spiral an avenue into the Cloud market. Aventure were the first cloud web hosting provider in Ireland.

“Cloud is still a developing market that is constantly changing but it is certainly a big selling point for us that we are able to offer cloud hosting,” says Armstrong, noting that a lot of clients still want normal web hosting on dedicated servicers and virtual servers.

Spiral Hosting knows it is operating in a very competitive marketplace, but their MD is confident that by providing a good service they will be able to prosper. He is hoping to attract good quality staff, both graduates and experienced people, to help grow the business.

“It is competitive. In Northern Ireland we would be the largest hosting company as far as I’m aware, but there are a lot in the Republic and GB, which is why we concentrate on offering a personal service with a dedicated account manager who would keep in regular contact with customers,” he said.

“We try to go the extra mile for businesses and because we are a local Belfast-based company they can call us 24/7. We do have a lot of customers coming over from other companies who wouldn’t offer the same level of support and assistance when they need it, meaning ultimately the companies themselves have to hire technicians to fix problems that are generally quite simple.”

At a special breakfast event in Belfast City Centre, Sean Hegarty, chosen for his razor sharp wit and clever craic served up the new Toat’ly Oaty porridge from White’s along with a few jokes to provide people with the best start to the day. Sean was joined by Katie Larmour and Connor Phillips.

Available in three varieties, Original, Wild Fruit and Apple and Cinnamon, Toat’ly Oaty is White’s new instant porridge, containing 100% wholegrain jumbo oats and nothing artificial. The introduction of Toat’ly Oaty instant porridge follows an investment in the White’s Mill in two new packing lines in 2010.

Danielle McBride, Brand Manager of White’s, said: “We all know that having a laugh makes us feel good but laughter also has many benefits for our health. Not only does it promote an overall sense of well-being and happiness, it can also strengthen our immune system, lower stress and boost energy levels allowing us to meet the day-to-day challenges with renewed vigour.

White’s porridge oats have many health boosting properties giving everyone the right balance of vitamins and minerals to set them up for the day ahead. White’s Toat’ly Oaty is 100% natural with no added sugar, salt or additives and is naturally low in calories- guaranteed to put a smile on everyone’s face!

What better way to launch our new instant porridge than by hosting a breakfast event that would provide a bit of humour and craic to show how White’s Toat’ly Oaty can brighten up and inject energy and vitality into your day”.

Sean Hegarty said: “There’s nothing as good as the feeling of making people laugh and the buzz from a crowd when they’re enjoying themselves – there’s really a great energy from it. So my recommendation to everyone who wants to start the day off well is a healthy serving of porridge accompanied with a sprinkling of laughter.”

White’s Toat’ly Oaty comes in three brightly coloured packs: Green for Apple and Cinnamon, Purple for Wild Fruit and Red for Original. With only 176 calories per serving, and packed full of vitamins and other key nutrients, Toat’ly Oaty is the quick and easy way of giving everyone a balanced and nutritional breakfast.

White’s Toat’ly Oaty Porridge has a low GI index and provides a rich source of soluble fibre beta-glucan which has been shown to help reduce cholesterol*. One 30g serving of Toat’ly Oaty** provides 1.3g of beta glucan which is over one third of the recommended daily intake of 3g per day.

*The inclusion of oats as part of a diet low in saturated fat and a healthy lifestyle can help reduce cholesterol.

**Toat’ly Oaty Original

Diageo Northern Ireland is calling on local social entrepreneurs to apply to the 2012 Arthur Guinness Fund by the end of this month.

Successful applicants will be eligible to receive between €50,000 and €100,000 each.

Social entrepreneurs are defined as people running projects that are committed to making a positive and sustainable impact on communities, with €1.65m of funding having already been awarded to a wide range of projects. Applications for this year’s funding close on November 30.

Funding is available to Northern Irish social entrepreneurs under two main categories. Firstly, established projects (termed as take-off projects) who have a proven working model in operation for between two to five years and can demonstrate the long term impact they are having in their community, are eligible to receive financial support up to €100,000. This funding will be provided over two years along with a comprehensive business mentoring programme with a view to taking their work to the next level. This includes additional expertise and practical support from Diageo Ireland through workshops, seminars and training.

Secondly, projects that have been established in the last two years (termed as start up projects) can apply to receive up to €50,000 in funding plus professional mentoring support over two years. This award is specifically aimed at start up projects that require a springboard to help turn their vision into a reality.

Clare Strawson, Corporate Relations, Diageo Northern Ireland said: “In the past, Northern Ireland has been underrepresented for funding applications to the Arthur Guinness Fund and this year we would like to see that change.

“The Arthur Guinness Fund provides a much needed spark to bring about long lasting positive change in our society. We recognise how difficult it can be for projects like these to secure funding and professional business mentoring.”

Since its inception, substantial funding and professional business support has been provided to 20 social entrepreneurs. Their work focuses on a broad range of areas including creating employment opportunities for the disabled, returning former-prisoners to work, shaping the right environment for men to re-build their self-esteem during unemployment and much more.

Those interested in applying the Arthur Guinness Fund can download an application form from www.guinness.com/arthurguinnessfund.

Steve Orr, director of NISP CONNECT, tracks the progress of some of the past competitors in the programme’s 25K Awards and shows how taking part helped kick start their companies

This year has been another successful year for NISP CONNECT’s £25K Awards as the call for innovators from Northern Ireland’s publicly funded research base to embark on the journey of commercialisation continues to uncover local ideas with global potential.

The awards aim to prepare and guide entrants to become successful future business ventures that will contribute to the growth of the Northern Ireland economy.
Sponsored by Bank of Ireland UK, QUB, University of Ulster and AFBI (Agri Food and Biosciences Institute), the £25K process provides applicants with a unique opportunity to engage with science and technology corporations, entrepreneurs, service providers and investors who can provide valuable support for teams to develop their concepts and business acumen, all with the aim of becoming ‘the next big thing’ to come out of Northern Ireland’s research base.

Flish, a team from Queen’s University Belfast who have developed a low cost, low power antenna capable of picking up satellite signals automatically, were announced as the winners of this year’s awards and have once again reminded us of the innovative talent that lies in our research community. But while this year’s awards identified revolutionary ideas that have the potential to become real game changers, it’s vital to remember and learn from those who have already been through the process and are currently reaping the benefits. In other words the success stories – those who asked the right questions, made the right moves and are now providing the right answers to global challenges. I want to focus on a few of them.

One such success is last year’s winner LenisAer, a team from the University of Ulster who developed a cost-effective method for manufacturing airline engine covers which improve efficiency and reduce emissions. Since being crowned winners of the £25Ks last year the team has set up a company and gone on to win the InterTradeIreland Seedcorn Business Award for the Best University Spinout. Through support from Invest NI LenisAer has collaborated with local company Crossen Engineering to showcase its prototype part at this year’s Paris Airshow and is already generating revenue, all within an impressive 12 months.

And it’s not just the winners of the £25K Awards that benefit from the process. Last year’s finalists TaskMaestro, a touch screen device providing hospitality and catering staff with an electronic ‘to do list’, have gone on to enjoy success. The system alerts staff with instructions and holds them accountable through biometric finger print recognition technology.

Following subsequent participation in Invest Northern Ireland’s Propel programme and with an international patent pending, Gabriel Bradley, founder of TaskMaestro, ventured into the ‘dragon’s den’ at a HALO, Northern Ireland’s Business Angel Network. After pitching to a number of investors he secured the second largest funding round ever of £500,000 which has since been reinvested in the company for business development.

The largest ever investment made in Northern Ireland by Halo business angels went to the 2007 £25K Award winners Sophia Search, who developed a sophisticated search engine for organisations with vast reserves of unstructured data. Sophia automatically trawls through documents, identifies key themes that they contain and then groups them into themes to which they are topically most similar. After pitching to the business angels the University of Ulster spinout received $1.2m of funding enabling the company to accelerate its expansion into the US market.

With the addition of former Iona Technologies CEO Chris Horn as its new chairman in 2010, the company went on to hire R&D staff in Russia, software engineers in Belfast and opened an office in San Jose while recruiting a new VP of sales in Silicon Valley. Sophia now has US customers in the government research, pharmaceuticals and publishing domains and is currently focusing on growing sales and revenue in the US. With plans to employ new sales and field engineers in US and new engineers set to join the Belfast team, Sophia Search are a shining example of innovation in action.

For LenisAer, TaskMaestro and Sophia Search it all started with an idea that was developed through hard work and refined through the £25K Awards process. Their success to date has been remarkable and they are not stopping there. They should be an inspiration to the next generation to consider starting on the road to commercialisation.

The 12th annual Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards were a true celebration of the diversity, confidence and innovation which underlines the technology industry on the island of Ireland.

Ranking the fifty fastest-growing technology companies, the Deloitte Fast 50 awards brought together a mix of experienced and next generation technology professionals to applaud, recognise and celebrate those companies which have grown in the face of the on-going recessionary backdrop.

Northern Ireland once again put in a robust performance on the night with 14 indigenous companies claiming a place in the coveted Fast 50 ranking.

The top Northern Ireland winner in the Fast 50 was Learning Pool; the Derry-based e-learning provider which had featured as the 2009/2010 Rising Star winner – awarded to younger companies with the fastest growth in turnover over the past three years. In its first year as an eligible contender for the Deloitte Fast 50, Learning Pool registered stunning growth of 1,100% to claim the number six spot and lead the pack for the Northern Ireland entries.

The second highest entry from Northern Ireland was from Export Technologies, ranking at number 12 and third place was claimed by Leaf Consultancy, featuring at number 20.

The Rising Star award for Northern Ireland was presented to Belfast-based Sixteen South, who develop, create and produce children’s television. Since inception in 2008, the company has produced and worked with some of the biggest names in children’s TV including Jim Henson, the Sesame Workshop and the BBC. They are now ranked as one of the UK’s top indie producers.

Seasoned names such as Novosco, Andor Technology and Texthelp Systems Limited proved innovation and growth could be sustained whilst newcomers included Belfast-based software development and web design business Etain, and price comparison engine builder Seopa.

The gala event was held in Dublin’s Convention Centre – a fitting venue given its state-of-the-art fit-out and innovative design. The theme of the evening was ‘Connect. Grow. Inspire’ with speakers Maurice Mortell, CEO of Telecity Group Plc and Regina Moran, CEO of Fujitsu delivering presentations alongside Deloitte’s leading technology experts and visionaries.

Leading the field in 2011 was RoI company Populis, one of Europe’s fastest growing digital media companies. The company, which was established in 2004 as GoAdv and rebranded as Populis in October 2010, achieved an aggregate growth rate of 7,982% over the last five years to claim the top spot.

2010 supremo Software Asset Management Ireland (SAMI), a leading supplier of software and information technology solutions to the education and voluntary sector in the South, achieved second place with a growth rate of 6,899%.

REGIONAL WINNER: NORTHERN IRELAND

Case Study: Learning Pool

The training industry has been transformed more than most by the internet, with online learning materials now available in virtually every workplace.

One of the leading providers of online learning in the public sector is Learning Pool, a company that was originally created as an internal project in the Local Government Association.

Today, Learning Pool is an independent company that works with 300 councils across the UK, offering e-learning content and management platforms together with software tools to make the most of online learning.

The company employs around 50 people and is completely self-funded, explains Paul McElvaney, a director of the firm. Despite a period of unprecedented budget pressures in the public sector, the company’s growth has remained strong – probably because online learning provides organisations with a way to save large amounts of money without compromising on service quality.

“We are constantly trying to innovate, using open source technology to provide products that will meet the needs of clients, and can be customised easily,” says McElvaney. “Getting to market quickly is a real priority for us and it works, in that we’re beginning to see a lot of referral business, as organisations realise that our products are doing a better job than our competitors.”

Learning Pool is based in Derry, in Northern Ireland, and location hasn’t been a barrier to growth, says McElvaney. “There are always challenges if you’re in a peripheral location but we are near to the university, with a young, skilled population, and as a city we have brilliant connectivity, and there’s a real buzz here around the digital space.”

McElvaney isn’t surprised that software companies like his are booming all over the UK. “With the technology available to new companies today, in terms of cloud services and infrastructure, you can literally take an idea from concept to live in six or eight weeks, change them, and go back to market again,” he says. “There is huge innovation and because companies don’t need to buy servers or storage to get started, the barriers to entry have never been lower allowing companies to compete and win on the quality of their service.”

The New Bus for London is the first bus designed specifically for the streets of London in more than 50 years and has been built by specialist engineers at Wrightbus. In just under two years the bus has gone from the drawing board to a fully functioning prototype.

The new bus incorporates the most innovative and cutting edge hybrid technology and will be the most environmentally friendly bus of its kind when it enters passenger service.

In December the prototype driven by the Mayor will make its way across the Irish Sea to London, where it will be put through its paces on the Capital’s streets in preparation for entering passenger service next year. In the course of the first half of 2012 it will be joined by seven more prototypes to be tested in passenger service, which will lead to the establishment of a full production line. A team of 25 engineers and a 40 strong production team at the Wrightbus factory in Ballymena have worked on the first prototypes. But in a difficult economic climate the Mayor is confident investment will be made in hundreds more buses that will support many more jobs.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “This fantastic machine is chock full with the latest technology and London buses will be world leaders once again when the first eight buses take to our roads early next year. They are just an advance party for what I envisage will eventually be a legion of their type. Our new bus is an improvement on standard double decks in every respect and has been designed with this city and its wonderful population in mind. It showcases the very best of British manufacturing and design and simply oozes with quality.”

Northern Ireland could gain an extra 25,500 jobs across 6,000 new technology businesses if it can be transformed into the UK’s leading knowledge economy.

That was one of the key conclusions of a new report commissioned by the Northern Ireland Science Park and sponsored by the Northern Bank.

The Northern Ireland Knowledge Economy Index – Baseline Report also found that an additional 24,000 indirect jobs would be created through a focus on innovative businesses, generating an extra £3bn of Gross Value Added to the local economy.

For this to happen Northern Ireland will require a significant lift in levels of innovation, talent, technology, enterprise and active networks, the research found.
Using a definition of a “knowledge economy” that is based on the CONNECT model credited with transforming the San Diego economy, the report concluded that the current knowledge economy in Northern Ireland employs 30,000 people directly, encompasses 2,000 businesses, accounts for £1.8bn in GVA, £1bn in direct wages, supports 27,000 other jobs indirectly and £300m of business R&D expenditure.

The report indicates that transforming the local economy to the most knowledge intensive region in the UK will require some serious work, including £800m more spent on R&D annually, 200 more PhD students a year, 42,000 more science and technology graduates working in the economy, and 200 more patent applications annually.

NISP CONNECT director Steve Orr said the ambitious plan was “not just about creating jobs for a few people in white coats” but rather an engine that could become the source of a wide range of employment opportunities.

“This report is a starting point to tell us exactly where we are in the development of an entrepreneurial knowledge economy. Clearly while we are making progress in some areas we are not there yet on a number of key metrics,” he said.

“This Index Report sets out the challenges and confirms the desire of the private sector to engage with and support the public policy agenda to deliver a step change in our economic ambitions. We are using this as a rallying call to all interested parties to work together to deliver the clear and realistic opportunities outlined in this report.”

At its launch Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster welcomed the report as a “strong statement” from the business community that it is prepared to step forward, and implied that many of the issues included in the report would be addressed in the Executive’s soon to be released economic strategy – which she said will have innovation at its heart.

The Minister also praised the report’s conclusion that Northern Ireland should have ambitions to be the foremost knowledge in the UK, noting that the province has in the past “lacked belief” in its own potential.

Neil Gibson from Oxford Economics, which put together the research, said that while many indicators showed Northern Ireland lagging the UK, the province is “not cut adrift” and “the solution to our problems are in our own hands”.

However, a solution will require a collaborative approach between government and business that has been lacking to date. The report said that while innovation has long been talked about in Government policy the approach to it has been somewhat “blurred” and as a result Northern Ireland’s knowledge economy base is still “stunted”.

“It is customary in Northern Ireland for economic policy to aspire to the average, to move off the bottom, but as San Diego showed aiming for the top is not misguided, just demandingly ambitious,” the report said.

“The entrepreneurial knowledge economy will be the most difficult to achieve but the most rewarding. The prize is thousands of high value jobs, thousands of new jobs in support industries, clusters of companies embedded here and not interested in relocating, corporation tax paid by indigenous companies, capital gains tax paid on executive and employee stock options and wealth realistion events such as IPOs and company trade sales and most importantly, an opportunity for any kid with ambition and talent to make it big in Northern Ireland,” it concluded.

The report identified a number of weaknesses such as the lack of access to capital most local entrepreneurs are faced with, but also suggested many reasons to be hopeful.

However, with global competition moving quickly, it also urged Northern Ireland to act now if it is to get ahead of the game.

Confirming the slump in the local property sector, BDP said it was closing its Belfast studio because of a “significantly diminished” workload as a consequence of the economic downturn – a situation it said shows “no signs of improving in Northern Ireland”.

Manchester-headquartered BDP has had a presence in the city since 1965 when it was appointed to prepare the Belfast Central Area Plan and at one point during the property boom of the mid 2000s it had over 100 staff here.

It is intended that the studio will close by the end of the year and BDP said that a consultation process had begun for the 18 members of staff who remain.

Sandy Fergusson head of the Belfast studio said: “We deeply regret the need for this course of action which has been arrived at despite the considerable efforts of all concerned over the past two years. The decision has been a difficult and painful one, felt even more keenly given BDP’s history in Northern Ireland and especially in Belfast.”

BDP’s most recent high profile project in Belfast is the Victoria Square retail development, and its exit will be seen as a worrying indicator of the prospects that similar major projects will be undertaken locally in the near future.

Other prominent buildings it has worked on over the years have included the Northern Bank HQ in Donegall Square, The George Best Belfast City Airport, the Laganside masterplan followed by the Bus Centre, Castlecourt shopping centre and, especially pertinent for architects, PLACE Architecture & Built Environment Centre in Fountain Street. BDP’s own offices are shared with IBM at no 2 Bruce Street.

BDP has also carried out many projects across Northern Ireland, most notably especially in the planning and education sectors.

The company said it was continuing to win work elsewhere in the UK and has to some extent been buffered by its success in overseas markets especially in China and India.