Qualcom targets further growth in Northern Ireland as retail IT demand surges
Cyber security service provider Qualcom increased annual revenues in Northern Ireland by 30%.
The company is continuing to accelerate its growth in 2026 and forecasts a further 15% revenue increase in the region by year-end.
“As the retail landscape continues to rapidly evolve, there is a growing demand for resilient IT infrastructure that can support secure and streamlined customer experiences, regardless of how they may choose to shop. Reputation is key in retail and it’s vital that sensitive customer information remains protected as cyber threats grow,” Leeann Saunders, managing director for Northern Ireland, Qualcom, said.
She added: “We are expanding our team in Northern Ireland to meet this increasing demand, bridge technical skills gaps and reduce pressure on organisations. This year, we will continue to work closely with our customers to deliver enterprise-grade capabilities without the enterprise-grade distance.”
Qualcom is expanding its team to support this continued growth and will add five new roles at its Belfast office by the end of 2026.
Recruitment has already begun for these roles, which include positions for both on-site and field-based engineers. This will bring the headcount to 21 employees in Northern Ireland.
This growth has been largely driven by demand for Qualcom’s services within the retail sector in Northern Ireland.
The increased move to digital payment services means that there is reduced reliance on traditional payment methods in store.
Qualcom is seeing a growing demand among retailers for integrated and ultra-secure digital systems to support card and app payments, loyalty card programmes, and online ordering platforms – often across multiple locations.
In addition, these systems require reliable internet connectivity and regular software updates to ensure uninterrupted service, a seamless customer experience, and the protection of sensitive financial data.
Due to the more complex nature of these systems, Qualcom is providing increased on-the-ground support to retailers to resolve issues quickly and maintain business continuity. In turn, this reduces the burden on in-house teams.
Qualcom’s engineers can even remain physically on-site after system implementation to provide day-to-day support for retailers which, in particular, fills a critical skills gap for businesses without internal IT resources.
This staff-as-a-service model has become an increasingly attractive option as companies look for more flexible and commercially viable ways to manage IT operations, especially in relation to managing holidays and sickness cover.
The company is also reducing complexity for retailers and other large businesses in Northern Ireland when it comes to post-Brexit customs and excise processes by managing the logistics of device and hardware procurement.
Patryk Goron
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