By Owen Ryan
FIFTY new jobs are coming to Shannon as Pepper has announced it will create the positions at its servicing centre in Westpark.
The company has invested €500,000 in expanding its premises and the additional space would provide capacity for another 30 workers after 50 are recruited. There are currently 120 people working there.
Pepper has signed an addendum to its existing ten year lease which will see its office space increased to 19,000 square feet. This follows a €2 million investment in new systems and office facilities undertaken last year.
The new jobs will be in mortgage arrears handling, customer service, real estate expertise and legal expertise.
News of the jobs comes a week after Zimmer confirmed it has taken on 30 new staff since the start of the year in Shannon.
Paul Doddrell, CEO of Pepper Ireland said the significant change to the lease terms is due to a requirement to facilitate its rapidly expanding operation. “At the time we moved into the new offices in Westpark, we signified our ambition to grow the company in Ireland and take on more people across our business. Over the last 18 months we have been successful in securing several new contracts with more opportunities in the pipeline. I am very pleased to open the new extension to our facility here in Shannon, which has provisions for extra staffing capacity, with 50 new positions already being recruited for.
“This additional significant investment reaffirms Pepper’s commitment to further grow its operations in Ireland, and particularly in Shannon, with a view to becoming the leading independent asset manager and servicer of choice here.”
Established in September 2012, Pepper Asset Servicing is Ireland’s leading service of third party loan portfolios, asset management and advisory services spanning residential mortgages, commercial mortgages, auto finance, unsecured loans and equipment finance. The company currently has portfolios with over €3 billion assets under management.
Pepper Ireland is part of Pepper Group, a global financial services business headquartered in Sydney, which specialises in lending, advisory and asset management services.
Commenting on the expansion, Managing Director of Westpark Business Campus Brian O’Connell said; “Westpark is delighted to facilitate this further expansion of the Pepper operations. The one-stop shop facility was a perfect vehicle to provide the expansion on time and within budget, in effect meaning that we acted as the developer, project manager, contractor and facility manager.”
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.