Every time I’ve heard about Northern Ireland in the past few months it has been linked to a depressing story of decline and redundancies. Usually the BBC is calling me up out of the blue and asking for some comment on another call centre that is laying people off.

So, it’s good to see Firstsource hiring extensively. They recently announced another 100 jobs in Derry and just announced a further 150 yesterday.

I saw the team from Firstsource in London recently at the National Outsourcing Association annual awards – one of which they actually won – and they seemed upbeat about prospects.

Northern Ireland does have a great story to tell, as I kept on reminding the BBC during those bleak on air radio discussions about redundancy. Perhaps those Irish eyes will be smiling again with this latest news and a resurgence of confidence in the services market there.