INVEST NI’s ability to win new foreign direct investment (FDI) in the north has been impacted by the resignation of a dozen key staff in London and North America since last April.
The resignations include five of Invest NI’s six-strong London-based FDI team, who quit last year and who have not been replaced.
They are among nine current and former members of staff who have now launched legal proceedings against the organisation.
Details of the London team’s resignations could be publicly revealed at an employment tribunal, which is expected to focus on terms and conditions of employment.
The five had previously worked for an external company contracted to carry out Invest NI’s FDI work in Europe for around 20 years.
That changed in 2020 when Invest NI decided to bring the staff into the organisation, which in turn triggered a fallout over alleged changes to terms of employment.
It is understood a number of the former staff have cited constructive dismissal as well as a breakdown of trust and confidence in the organisation.
Invest NI has confirmed tribunal proceedings have been received in respect of nine staff, but declined to comment any further on the cases.
Invest NI’s North American operation has also lost 14 staff since April 2020, including eight resignations, seven of them in the current financial year.
There have also been four cases where contracts were terminated in the past two years.
It’s understood most of the North American team have been replaced in recent months, but a number of vacancies remain.
It comes as former BBC chair Sir Michael Lyons begins an independent review of the organisation.
The Irish News revealed last week how Invest NI was forced to suspend new offers of financial support to new business investors because of uncertainty over its budget from April 2022.
That freeze remains in place, but speaking yesterday, Economy Minister Gordon Lyons pledged to provide certainty in the coming days over Invest NI’s budget.
Mr Lyons said he hoped Invest NI would be able to resume making offers, but added that a process of prioritisation would be needed.
However, the organisation’s ability to find those new business investors has been impacted by a recruitment freeze within the organisation, resulting in the London FDI team not being replaced.
That has left Invest NI without an in-market team on the ground in Britain to actively seek out potential new British and European investors since last year.
It comes at a time when Northern Ireland’s unique dual access to the EU and British markets under the NI Protocol has been highlighted in some quarters as a major carrot for attracting new investment.
A former insider in the organisation familiar with the facts told The Irish News: “If Brexit was supposed to do anything, it was to make Northern Ireland a really good place for British businesses to base themselves here, because of access to the European market.
“Now is the right time for encouraging FDI into Northern Ireland from the United States as well for European market access.
“But there is no FDI team in GB and there hasn’t been for months and months. And it’s because the organisation has lost them.”
SDLP MLA Colin McGrath initially raised the issue of the resignations with Minister Lyons through a written assembly question on February 8.
Mr Lyons has not yet responded to that query, and said he was unfamiliar with the details when the SDLP MLA put it directly to him in the assembly last Tuesday.
Mr McGrath, who has spoken to some of the staff affected, said: “For so many staff to tender their resignations in such a short period of time is worrying.
“I will be contacting Sir Michael Lyons and his review team to ensure that these matters are considered as part of the review being undertaken into the organisation.
“If this is a result of the culture within the organisation then it must be rooted out.”
