An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD

An Taoiseach opens Morgan McKinley’s Shanghai office marking €5 million investment in new Chinese operations by Irish company

Shanghai, China – 26th March 2012 – In a keynote event attended by senior Chinese and multinational business executives, An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny T.D. today formally opened the growing Shanghai office of the Irish owned global professional services recruiter, Morgan McKinley.

The announcement took place as part of this week’s Enterprise Ireland trade mission to China which is being led by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mr Richard Bruton T.D.

Morgan McKinley opened its first mainland China office in the Pudong high growth economic zone in Shanghai last year. It is the first Irish recruiter to establish a presence in mainland China, with a network of offices also in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Dubai, Ireland, France and the UK, managed from the company’s corporate and administrative headquarters in Cork.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Kenny said:"Morgan McKinley is a great example of how Irish companies can compete and win business anywhere in the world with innovative products and services. Their success in China shows us how Irish services companies can become multinational players, bring inward investment into the country and create jobs. The Government will continue to support the international growth of Irish companies and relentlessly promote the message that now is the time to invest in Ireland. I congratulate Morgan McKinley on their achievements to date and wish them continued success."

An Taoiseach was accompanied by Richard Bruton, T.D., Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, and Frank Ryan, Chief Executive, Enterprise Ireland. They were welcomed to Morgan McKinley’s Shanghai office by the Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Pat Fitzgerald and Managing Director of Morgan McKinley China, Vivian Ng.

Morgan McKinley’s investments in China and Hong Kong amount to €5 million and Enterprise Ireland has strongly encouraged and supported the company’s international growth and expansion. Morgan McKinley already employs 70 staff in China and today confirmed its intention to expand this to 200 staff covering its Asian operations over the next three years. The Group employs over 600 globally, of whom 200 are based in Ireland at its Cork headquarters, in Dublin and in other offices nationwide.

Initial success in the highly competitive Chinese market has led to recruitment contracts for Morgan McKinley with a large number of organisations in China including multinational businesses across financial services; accounting & finance; technical & engineering; IT and sales & marketing. Morgan McKinley’s clients in China include PricewaterhouseCoopers, Johnson & Johnson, Hang Seng, Giorgio Armani, Barclays and Pepsico, among other corporations.

An Taoiseach visited Morgan McKinley’s Shanghai office as part of his official State visit to China which follows from the recent visit to Ireland of Mr. Xi Jinping, Vice-President of the People’s Republic of China. The purpose of the Taoiseach’s visit is to enhance economic and trade co-operation and toexpand cultural exchanges between the two countries. This visit by the Taoiseach and Minister Bruton helps to highlights Morgan McKinley as an Irish and international business success story within China and has been warmly welcomed by the company.

Pat Fitzgerald, CEO Morgan McKinley commented:“I am delighted to welcome An Taoiseach and Minister Bruton to China and very proud to present to him what we as an Irish company have achieved in our Shanghai office over the past 12 months. We have long enjoyed a strong relationship with Enterprise Ireland who helped us to establish ties in the early stages of our expansion into China. We are also very pleased that, as planned, our success in China to date has led to job creation within our group shared services team based in Ireland.

“In promoting the Pudong area of Shanghai as a location for foreign businesses to locate and develop,the Chinese government has given us an opportunity to thrive in this region. We are very happy to be part of the Chinese business community and look forward to seeing Shanghai continuing to grow as a leading international financial centre over the coming years. In turn we will play our part in that growth through our professional services recruitment expertise.”

Morgan McKinley Shanghai is led by Managing Director, Vivian Ng who has ten years’ experience in finance; financial services; legal and IT recruitment across, Shanghai, Singapore and Japan.