First firm moves into Northern Ireland’s new enterprise zone

Northern Ireland’s new 40-acre enterprise zone has welcomed its first occupants: cyber security and global data storage company 5NINES.

The firm, which has data centres worldwide including in Finland, France and the US, invested £20 million in the 45,000 sq ft facility at the Atlantic Link Campus in Coleraine.

5NINES believes that the "world-class" facility will provide "highly efficient and exceptionally secure data storage" for organisations in Northern Ireland.

Paul Besley, general manager of 5NINES NI, said the new facility would allow "all data to be collected, stored and processed locally from a purpose-built modern facility".

He told the BBC: “At a time when people and businesses are producing and consuming vast quantities of data, the security of that information has never been more important.”

Mr Besley added that the facility would meet Northern Ireland’s growing need for data storage and support burgeoning data-heavy sectors such as fintech, pharmaceutical research and cyber security.

It is hoped that other cloud computing firms will be attracted to the area now that 5NINES has set up base at Atlantic Link.

This Coleraine facility isn’t Northern Ireland’s first; the country previously boasted enterprise zones in Belfast and Londonderry in the 1980s.