Odyssey opens with 20 posts but eyes 200

Published on Monday 16 November 2009 20:20

A SWISS software firm is opening an office in Glasgow in a move that could create up to 200 jobs, it was announced yesterday.

Odyssey Financial Technologies will site its Scottish operation in Glasgow city centre in January. It will start by recruiting 20 software developers.

Lausanne-based Odyssey, which specialises in software for private banking, private wealth management and asset management firms, said that it could increase this figure to 200 jobs, subject to "positive market developments".

The move was announced by First Minister Alex Salmond with the Scottish Government backing the project with a 2.25 million Regional Selective Assistance subsidy.

Dubbing the new office a "development centre of excellence", James Thomson, senior vice-president of research and development for Odyssey, said Scotland won the new hub on a number of factors, including its financial services expertise.

He said: "Scotland has a long-established financial services sector community, superb infrastructure, great universities and a wonderful can-do attitude; we are excited by the potential we have found here.

"This, coupled with the excellent support provided by the Scottish Government, made it the ideal location for Odyssey."

The office will develop software and service clients, which include Lloyds Banking Group, for its customers worldwide. Founded in Luxembourg in 1995 by chief executive and chairman Antoine Duchateau, Odyssey has 17 offices, including in New York, Singapore, Zurich, Frankfurt, Brussels, Geneva and Tokyo with its development centres located in Toronto, Lausanne and London.

Salmond said: "The Scottish Government is working hard to create and safeguard jobs in Scotland and I am delighted that Odyssey will open a centre of excellence in Glasgow."