Approximately 20 residents are leading the charge for Arringo Limited, a market leader in the financial technologies sector, that officially launched its operations in Antigua and Barbuda Thursday evening.
The company, which is headquartered in Malta and based locally on Old Parham Road, selected Antigua and Barbuda to further expand its reach beyond Europe due to the strength of the local economy, and the “highly-skilled workforce prominent in the country”.
Observer attended the launch and spoke with the General Manager of the company’s Antigua operations Connelly Gardner, about what their presence means for the country, and specifically, for the young people who form the first staff cohort.
“It’s employment, but not only that, it’s experience. It’s experience and training in things that they probably would not have been exposed to normally. We are not one specific thing. When we do onboarding, we become our clients and we are able to learn and do much more than the average call center and … we are probably the first to not only target abroad, but also the local cause. We are here to assist any company that is willing to utilise our service,” Gardner said.
Arringo currently provides a range of premium financial technology solutions and services, including back and front-end engineering, business development, full marketing and branding services, and customer operations support.
Gardner spoke on the potential of the primarily young team he has assembled to make strides in the sector and boost the company’s profile as a market leader.
He described the team as “incredible” and the “right mixture of youth and experience” who will help the company to do great things.
The GM also said that he will use his 15 years of call center experience to nurture them even more.
Thursday’s launch was attended by government officials, including Prime Minister Gaston Browne, and members of the local business community.
The Chief Executive Officer, Simon Camilleri – who is based in Europe – and local Director, Jeff Hadeed, told the attendees about the journey to launch and the company’s plans.
As for the company’s growth and development plans, Gardner told Observer that they intend to scale up the staff complement as soon as possible.
“The sky is the limit. We see rapid growth to 50. This is just the start to get us out the gate. But right now, our blood is pumping, our hearts are racing and we are ready to take it to the finish line. So, after that initial quick growth, I see us onboarding as much as 200, maybe 300, in the future. We are not putting any kind of figures on it but we are not limiting it as well,” he remarked.
The opening of Arringo comes just over a year after another call center, Dixie Operations Ltd, closed its doors and put close to 200 persons out of work.