Phorest has announced a fully remote team of 25 jobs in Northern Ireland over the next three years, supported by £162,500 from Invest NI. It shows a software platform choosing a delivery location against competing bids from Croatia, Portugal, North America and Estonia, with remote working widening the available talent pool.

Phorest is a Dublin-headquartered software company employing around 450 people globally. Its all-in-one platform for premium hair and beauty salons, spas and aesthetic clinics covers appointment management, online booking, marketing and integrated payments.

The new team will span product development, engineering and operations. Roles include software engineers at various levels, including graduates, as well as product managers, customer specialists and test engineers.

Sylvie McDermott, chief operating officer at Phorest, said: “As demand for the Phorest platform continues to grow, this new team will play an important role in helping us scale in a controlled and sustainable way while maintaining the high standards of service and innovation our customers expect.”

McDermott said Northern Ireland impressed the company with its skilled talent pool, technology ecosystem and connectivity, and that its working model will allow it to attract people from across the region.

Anne Beggs, chief commercial officer at Invest NI, said: “As the positions are fully remote, they will be accessible to talented people right across Northern Ireland, helping to create opportunities across the region.”

Beggs said the partnership was built over several years, led initially by Invest NI’s Dublin team, which first engaged with Phorest in 2018.

The platform it is scaling already has reach. Business Wire reported in 2022 that it was used by more than 155,000 hair, beauty and clinic professionals across more than 8,500 businesses, and backed by Susquehanna Growth Equity.

For the sector, a remote-first team, chosen over four competing locations, signals that software firms are scaling delivery capacity by widening hiring reach rather than concentrating it in one office.

Source: Belfast News Letter / Business Wire