A remote surveillance company which protects international businesses against terror attacks is to set up shop in Co Down.
Netwatch Ireland Ltd is opening a remote monitoring and disaster recovery hub in Newry, shielding high-worth individuals in Africa and the motor dealer industry in the US from criminal damage.
The operation will create 15 jobs and its head said it aimed to grow aggressively over the next number of years.
Chief operations officer Wendy Hamilton said: “Netwatch is providing mission critical services to companies around the globe.
“They depend on Netwatch to ensure they are protected against major incidents, such as a terror attack, and more importantly that they can continue to operate their businesses in the event of a major incident, whether accidental or as a result of a deliberate act against the company.
“Establishing a second operations hub means that we can support an expanding client base across Europe, the Middle East and Africa and that we can ensure continuous monitoring of their property.”
The surveillance company is based in Carlow in the Republic and received a £90,000 taxpayer-funded grant to encourage it to establish itself in Northern Ireland.
It was the first company in Ireland to combine specialist video transmission technologies with satellite communications to reduce the risk of criminal damage to the property of clients.
The company has developed software to protect large corporations in the food, life sciences and medical industries where damage or interference to the production process could put the health of consumers at risk.
It also identifies potential risks at every level throughout an organisation which could cause serious damage to its reputation and have significant financial consequences.
Netwatch identifies vulnerabilities and mitigates risk in areas of the business including security, facilities management, production, finance and risk to employees and management.
The firm said the new monitoring and disaster recovery hub will deploy the most advanced technologies to protect individuals, assets and premises across the world.
Ms Hamilton added: “We are growing aggressively and will double the size of our business, hopefully growing to 50 people in Newry, over the next three years.
“We chose Newry because it is an ideal location for us, with a cost-competitive business environment and excellent support from Invest NI.
“The Newry monitoring and disaster recovery hub will initially target the motor dealer industry in the US as well as high net worth individuals in Africa – both key markets for our services.”
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