Citigroup is looking to hire more than 400 employees for its Belfast office as it bolsters its presence outside of London, Bloomberg reported, citing a senior executive at the lender. 

This year, more than 300 employees have joined the US banking major in Belfast taking the total headcount to 3,700, Citi UK country officer James Bardrick told the publication in an interview. 

The new positions at Citi range from entry-level roles to directorships. 

“Whether it is compliance, legal HR, markets support functions or technology, these activities are all wanting more people in Belfast,” Bardrick said.

“There is nothing to suggest that the organic rates of growth that we have seen recently would not continue.”

The lender became operational in Northern Ireland in 2005. Now it claims to be the region’s biggest employer in the financial services space. 

Compared with the London operations, which employs 10,000 people, the Belfast office is less than half its size. 

“The education system is absolutely smashing and more and more people are saying ‘I have been to university and school in Belfast, I live here, I love it,’” Bardrick said. 

Citing a survey by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Bardrick added that staff in Northern Ireland are paid £29,000, which is “substantially above” the average.

In a separate development, the Financial Times reported that Citi is closing in on a €100m deal for a new office in Dublin to bolster its European operations. 

In Ireland, the bank plans to hire some 300 additional staff in roles such as risk, audit, finance, technology and operations. According to sources, the deal could close as early as this month.