Since the days of old Frank McKenna, all the talk was about moving from call centres to the next level of back office functions that were higher value such as IT studios, accounting centres, etc.
Halifax, it seems, got the message.
The beat goes on:
Halifax, a centre for international finance? It’s no fish tale
PETER MOREIRA
Special to The Globe and Mail
On Wednesday, Bermuda-based Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Sons Ltd. said its fund services unit will hire about 400 people in the Nova Scotia capital in the next seven years.
The Butterfield announcement follows a decision last year by West End Capital Management, a fixed-income fund manager affiliated with billionaire investor Warren Buffett, to locate 75 positions in Halifax.
“This is just the beginning,” said Stephen Lund, chief executive officer of Nova Scotia Business Inc., the provincial agency that tries to lure business to the province.
Nova Scotia Business Inc. will provide up to $9.1-million to Butterfield over seven years if the firm hires at least 400 people. “We expect to see the number of job commitments rise to almost 1,000 in the very near future,” Mr. Lund said.
People familiar with the situation say the Nova Scotia government in the next few weeks will announce at least three other Bermuda-based companies will open offices in Halifax. One of these is the hedge fund Olympia Capital International, which plans to hire about 150 people in Halifax. The sources declined to name the other two.