San Fran iPad till supplier considering bringing 39 jobs

Internal Invest NI emails obtained by the Sentinel reveal the state-investment company tried to bring representatives from Revel Systems over for the Clipper festival in June after the former Mayor Martin Reilly met with the company during the San Francisco stop-over of the round-the-world race.

Revel, which started out with the intention of developing an online ordering application for the iPhone, makes hardware and software to allow pubs, shops and restaurants use iPads at the point of sale (POS).

An email from Invest NI’s Associate Vice President in the San Francisco Bay area, Mark Johnston, to Des Gartland, Manager of Invest NI’s North West Regional Office, in early June described a plan to facilitate visits to Londonderry and Belfast.

“Essentially, they are looking to establish a 39 person sales and fulfilment team somewhere in Northern Ireland and following meeting with [redacted]/The Mayor on the Clipper boat in San Francisco earlier this year they are really excited about looking at Derry alongside Belfast,” the email explained.

It was also suggested that meetings with similar companies such as Convergys and Learning Pool be arranged.

Mr Johnston, a colleague of Dungiven native, Áine Brolly, who heads up the Invest NI operation on the US West Coast, also said that the company would like to look at property options in Londonderry.

According to Mr Johnston around 2,000 square feet with storage room for hardware would be required should the firm decide to locate in the city.

In another email Mr Johnston described Revel as “a fast-growing technology company based in San Francisco - leading the industry with their IPad POS solution.”

He wrote: “[Redacted] are hoping to establish a sales/fulfilment team in Northern Ireland to support and grow their presence in the UK/Europe.”

However, the visit didn’t take place.

An internal Invest NI email - both the sender and recipient’s names have been redacted - on June 13, 2014, confirmed “the visit for the week ending June 23, 2014, [has been] postponed until later in the summer.”

The Sentinel contacted Revel Systems to ask if it was still interested in locating in the city.

Co-founder Chris Ciabarra confirmed that it was still looking at Londonderry and Belfast.

According to the Revel website: “The company raised 3.7 million dollars in April of 2011 and another 10 million in 2013.

“Now Revel’s top clients include the following (or franchisees of the following): Belkin, Goodwill, Griffin Technology, Little Caesars Pizza, Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen, Fresh Berry Frozen Yogurt Cafe, Pizza Patron, and thousands of others.”