º£½ÇÊÓƵ

New highly-skilled jobs have been created after online fashion giant ASOS chose Birmingham to set up its first operation outside London.

The e-commerce pioneer has announced it is to create 20 senior IT roles to help deliver global growth plans at its new centre in the Custard Factory in Digbeth, which is set to be up and running by the end of April.

The senior software and database engineer, quality assurance analyst and development team leader roles will focus on creating new websites to cater for consumers in ASOS’ growth markets.

And the number of jobs could be set to rise to 50 over the year, following the move assisted by Business Birmingham.

The announcement came a week after ASOS posted strong quarterly results which saw retail sales up 37 per cent year on year, resulting in first half retail sales growth of 34 per cent to £352 million.

Pete Marsden, chief information officer for ASOS, told the Post the expansion into Birmingham was driven by growth and the fact its London operation had “outgrown” itself.

“ASOS is growing incredibly quickly and the amount of technical development we want to do is significant,” he said. “Our technical centre in London is getting to the point where it is outgrowing our own capacity.”

Mr Marsden said there were many reasons Birmingham was chosen, but one was its connectivity and closeness to the capital.

“Birmingham was an obvious choice for us as it is relatively close to London,” he added. “Our London offices are near to Euston Station so Birmingham being just one-and-a-half hours away is an advantage.”

The firm also felt the region could deliver when it came to recruiting the specialist staff it needs, in part because high demand in London has made it more difficult to recruit technical staff of the required calibre.

Mr Marsden said the firm had considered many potential locations around the country. He added that ultimately it had been a choice between Birmingham and Bristol, with the second city eventually emerging triumphant.

“We looked at enterprise zones the Government has set up in other parts of the country further afield that ruled themselves out,” he said. “Bristol is a good IT centre but that is much further away and there is competition from others so Birmingham seemed a really good choice for us.

"In Bristol there are a number of other technology organisations. There is a lot of demand for technical resources there as it has become a technical centre and we didn’t want a second centre with the same problems as London.”

Growth plans for ASOS include expanding exports – 59 per cent of its business is now outside the º£½ÇÊÓƵ – with plans to launch into China, as well as an enhanced service in Russia. Among the high-tech features of the new Birmingham office will be video cameras linking it with London, something Mr Marsden said would “make it feel like it was one large office”.

He added that the firm was “very excited to be joining the Birmingham family”.

Lucan Gray, owner of the Custard Factory, said: “In Digbeth we have probably the biggest digital cluster outside London. It is quite a powerful community of digital businesses and when Marketing Birmingham had contact with ASOS they thought it would be a good fit. We started a conversation with ASOS, and they visited and liked what Birmingham was offering. It was all done very quickly.

“For us it is great to have dealings with an established digital business and it reinforces our position as a strong digital base.”

Marek Dobrowolski, investment manager at Business Birmingham, added: “Birmingham is making a real name for itself as a home for digital businesses. With 40,000 students studying computer science or business in Birmingham each year, we have a strong local talent pool.

“We have been keen to support the company’s move to Birmingham – not only is it a successful retailer, but it is also an attractor brand. It will help us put Birmingham’s offer for the creative and digital sectors in the spotlight.”