Tullett Prebon, the London headquartered interdealer broker, is to develop a new technology centre in Belfast which it says could create 300 jobs in the city over the next three years.

The first significant investment announcement in the North since the UK EU referendum was hailed by local political leaders in Belfast on Tuesday as a “vote of confidence” for Northern Ireland.

The London group also published its latest set of interim results on Tuesday which showed that its half year pre-tax profit jumped from £52.9 million to £60.3 million in 2016 while turnover increased from £415.7 million to £430.3 million.

Tullett Prebon said it expects the set up cost of its new Belfast centre to be “no more than £6 million” – of which £2 million will fall in the current financial year.

But the London group also said that it anticipates that once the centre is fully operational it will deliver savings of around £5 million per year.

The North's First Minister Arlene Foster said Tullett Prebon's decision to locate in Belfast had the potential to deliver a £9.9 million boost in annual salaries for the local economy once all of the jobs were in place.

“Tullett Prebon leads the way in the financial services sector and the company’s decision to establish its new IT development centre in Belfast is a vote of confidence in the ability and quality of the Northern Ireland workforce.

"Northern Ireland has an enviable reputation for hardworking, innovative, committed employees and I can assure you that we will prove, once again, we are good for business," Mrs Foster told Luke Barnett, the group CIO of Tullett Prebon in Belfast at the investment announcement.

Mr Barnett said the organisation had considered a number of potential locations for its new IT centre which will provide development and technical support for its global business but in the end it opted for Northern Ireland.

“Belfast was the outstanding choice. The combination of a highly educated workforce, attractive business environment and great infrastructure, underpinned by the support of local government and Invest Northern Ireland, offers a compelling proposition for a global financial services group such as ours,” he said.

Tullett Prebon will receive more than £2 million from Invest NI and £400,000 from the Department for the Economy to support the investment project.