The Bank of Bermuda is set to expand its computer department based in Scotland by nearly 50 percent by Easter next year -- and is hoping to attract more Bermudians to this far-flung outpost.

Last year almost 100 staff moved into newly-built offices in Stirling in Scotland, which is the powerhouse for the bank's information systems around the world.

Most of the staff are local Scots, but the management at the Bank of Bermuda are hoping that now the offices are up and running, more Bermudians will consider the move to Scotland.

The state-of-the-art Sterling offices were purpose built for the bank and completed in August, 1999. The staff there bridge the time gap between the bank's two other IT departments in Hong Kong and Bermuda.

According to Mike Ebbs, the senior vice president of information systems, who heads up the Sterling office as well as the bank's global IT departments, the expansion is due to an increase in demand for new technology.

"We have around 100 people in Sterling at the moment, and we hope to have 141 by Easter next year,'' Mr. Ebbs told The Royal Gazette from his office in Stirling.

Of the new staff, three so far will be Bermudians who will be taking their first expatriate jobs in Scotland.

"For staff, first we look internally, and then locally. We will be looking at Bermudians, people out of our Ireland office and Honk Kong transfers. I would hope we would see a high percentage of Bermudian staff, in the short, medium and long term in this office.'' Of the 100 who are currently in Stirling, 22 came from offices in Bermuda, including Mr. Ebbs himself. All those who transferred were expatriates, mainly from Europe, but Bermudians are beginning to look at the option of the Stirling office. Two staff came from offices in Hong Kong and the remaining 76 were hired locally.

In total around the world there are 262 full-time and 37 part-time IT workers in Hong Kong, Bermuda and Stirling. Stirling accounts for 86 of the full-time and 14 of the part-time workers.

In November, 1998 the bank announced it was considering moving its application programmers -- those who deal with software -- and possibly technical support staff to Scotland.

The move was part of a bid to combat a world-wide shortage in IT staff that the Bank of Bermuda said kept the computer department constantly short of about one quarter of its staff requirements.

Stirling was chosen because of its good access to highly qualified staff in the central belt of Scotland.

There were fears at the time in Bermuda that jobs would be lost because of the move.

The offices, which are in a new business park in the shadow of Stirling Castle, started with 80 staff, but now have 100 in the building.

The extra 40 workers will be absorbed into the existing office space.

The man in charge: Mike Ebbs heads up the Bank of Bermuda's computer operation in Stirling.

The bonnie, bonnie banks... The newly built Bank of Bermuda offices in Stirling, Scotland could soon be home to Bermudians.