Seagate Technology will invest £100m over five years in nano-photonic research and next-generation hard drive development at its Derry/Londonderry facility, utilising a further £15m grant from Invest Northern Ireland (NI) and creating more than 30 highly skilled roles, the organisations announced.
The programme will advance Seagate’s Mozaic 6+ technology and new recording heads to target drive capacities of 60TB and beyond, laying foundations for 100TB products.
The North West site manufactures recording heads and will host expanded R&D in semiconductor laser and photonics engineering to meet rising storage demand from hyperscale data centres and AI workloads.
“As AI models grow more powerful and data creation accelerates, the need for high-capacity, high-performance, and economical mass storage becomes even more essential,” said John Morris, Seagate’s chief technology officer.
“With Invest NI’s support, this project will fast-track our development of 60TB and beyond capacities… We’re proud to continue investing in Northern Ireland, where our journey in revolutionary technologies began more than three decades ago.”
Invest NI chief executive Kieran Donoghue said the agency’s £15m backing “will enable [Seagate] to ramp up productivity through state-of-the-art equipment” and “secure the development of the new recording heads and laser technology in the North West”.
Northern Ireland’s first minister, Michelle O’Neill, and deputy first minister, Emma Little-Pengelly, welcomed the move as a boost to regional innovation and employment.
Seagate said the investment will expand local supplier engagement and strengthen collaborations through the Smart Nano NI consortium and with Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University.
The Derry/Londonderry facility currently employs more than 1,300 people and produces over a quarter of the world’s recording heads, according to the company.
Join more than 11,000 industry leaders at Robotics and Automation Exhibition on 25-26 March 2026 at NEC Birmingham to explore cutting-edge technologies, connect with peers and discover the latest innovations shaping the future of manufacturing, engineering and logistics. Register for free now to secure your place at this premier event!
