A US company has handed a major boost to Dundee’s technology sector by revealing plans to create 40 new jobs in the city – and vowed that its recruitment drive is “just the beginning”.
Global player Cherwell Software, which develops systems used by companies to process internal IT and HR requests, is expanding its presence on Tayside after securing a £3.1 million R&D grant from Scottish Enterprise.
It comes less than a year after Cherwell established an R&D centre in Dundee, when it declared its ambition to become part of the city’s “up and coming” tech scene.
The company, which was founded in Colorado 15 years ago, revealed then its plans to establish in Dundee an engineering team to serve clients in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
It began with an initial team of 13 engineers at Dundee One, an office complex on the city’s revamped waterfront.
Now Cherwell is on the hunt for 40 more staff, with a recruitment drive focused on software engineers, QA (quality assurance) engineers and product managers.
Josh Turpen, chief product officer (global) at Cherwell, who has direct experience of the Dundee tech sector, said the commitment reflects faith not only in the technology talent in the city but across Scotland as a whole.
Cherwell’s commitment to flexible working, he said, means people working for the firm in Scotland can be based in Glasgow or Inverness as Dundee.
“There’s just a fantastic talent pipeline here in Scotland,” Mr Turpen said, adding that moves by the country’s universities to focus on subjects like computer science was “paying dividends”.
Asked whether Cherwell, which has a global headcount of 540 in numerous locations around the world, may ultimately hire yet more staff than the initial 40, Mr Turpen said: “Absolutely. There is no particular limit.
“Forty is what we have committed to as part of the grant. As far as I’m concerned, this is the beginning.”
Cherwell declared it is investing £8.9m in establishing its operation in Scotland, part of an overall global expansion drive worth £22m. Around half of the £3.1m Scottish Enterprise grant forms part of the £8.9m figure. Mr Turpen described the 40 roles as “highly-paid, good tech jobs”.
Cherwell’s commitment to Dundee will be seen not just as a boost to the tech sector but the city as a whole, which has been rocked by major job losses in recent months. Around 850 jobs will be axed in Dundee following the announcement by Michelin in November that it will shut its tyre factory – one of the biggest employers in the city – in the summer of 2020.
The Michelin move was followed by the collapse early this year of McGill and Co, where 374 staff were immediately made redundant when the Dundee-based construction company went into administration in February. The company, which employed 429 across its Dundee headquarters and offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh, was later acquired by Broughty Ferry businessman Graeme Carling.
Graeme Dey, Scotland’s minister for parliamentary business, announced the Cherwell funding on a visit to the base.
He said: “I am delighted that this £3.1m Scottish Enterprise grant will result in 40 new jobs in Dundee, a city which is fast becoming one of Scotland’s leading technology hubs. Cherwell’s decision to invest £8.9m into their operations in Scotland is also testament to the highly-skilled and talented workforce we have and our reputation as an innovative nation.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here