Dodds announces 52 new jobs in a first-time investment by education platform provider Firefly

Date published: 16 June 2020

The company provides a digital education platform to support schools in delivering home learning, which has become especially relevant during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Minister said:

"School closures have meant many education establishments have had to look to new ways to help teachers and parents home school children. Firefly’s online learning platform was already in use by many GB-based schools but has seen a marked increase in use during the recent months of lockdown.

"Invest Northern Ireland has been working with the company over recent months to progress Firefly’s plans to set up a 52 person team in Belfast. The company is still committed to this investment, with nine roles already in place and staff working from home.

"The company is offering very attractive salaries, and will contribute additional salaries of more than £2.3million per annum into the economy when all jobs are in place."

Firefly was founded by Joe Mathewson and Simon Hay when they were GCSE students. It now has teams based in London and Sydney, and the company currently employs 75 people.

Invest NI has offered the company £520,000 of support, as well as providing advice and guidance on setting up in Northern Ireland and helping with introductions to key stakeholders.

Co-founder Simon Hay said:

"Our whole education system is adjusting to a different way of teaching. Our modern learning experience platform helps schools and teachers to deliver engaging lessons remotely, from setting tasks to sharing resources, as well as manage parent communication efficiently.

"Having a strong team is even more important as we continue to support schools through this current challenge, and will help us grow in response to the increased demand for our service.

"We were attracted to Northern Ireland by the quality and availability of talent; that has not changed. We are very committed to our investment in Northern Ireland and are actively looking to recruit a mix of UX Developers, UX Researchers, designers, and back end and mobile app developers with experience in technologies such as Microsoft, JavaScript, iOS and Android.

"Obviously these new members of our team will be working from home but we have everything in place to remotely welcome them and help them settle into our team."