Agora Publishing has announced plans to create 100 jobs in the South East over the next three years as part of a major expansion.
Agora said it is to establish a new multilingual and technology services centre in Portlaw, about 20 km from Waterford city . As part of this development, the company is to recruit for roles across two divisions - Emerald Contact Centre and Agora Publishing Services Ireland.
At present 33 people are employed at the Agora subsidiary International Living Publishing Ltd at Elysium House in Waterford city.
The group said it is to centralise operations across the three companies in Portlaw in a period building which is currently under renovation. A capital investment of about €4.4 million is being made in the project, with the aim of the works being completed by mid-2016.
All three companies will relocate to Portlaw at that time. In the interim, the companies will all locate in temporary office space in Waterford city.
"We are very pleased to make this announcement today, we have had a long relationship with Waterford and this investment allows us to meet the demands of our growing business and take advantage of the high quality of talent available," said the company's president of publishing services Daryl Berver.
Agora, which was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is one of the largest and most successful consumer newsletter publishers in the world.
It consists of 60 subsidiary and affiliated companies which publish specialised information via advisory newsletters, websites and books on a range of topics including retirement, wealth management, equity investments, health, travel and finance.
The group publishes more than 300 books and 120 newsletters with over one million readers globally. Agora companies’ subsidiary operations have offices in London, Paris, Bonn, Melbourne, Johannesburg, Buenos Aires, Sao Paolo and Mumbai as well as Waterford.
IDA chief executive Martin Shanahan welcomed Agora's decision to expand its operations in Ireland is most welcome.
“ It is an excellent development for Co Waterford and the South East region,” he said.
