There was good news for the South Down area this week as Invest NI announced a successful major jobs drive.
During 2014-15, 964 new jobs were promoted by businesses in Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area with Invest Northern Ireland support.
The new jobs will be created over the next few years and are the result of £106 million of investment by companies in the area. This investment included almost £12m of assistance from Invest NI to help secure new investors to the area and support local businesses to bring forward their growth plans.
Mark Bleakney, Invest NI’s Southern Regional Manager, said: “Invest NI’s strong performance in 2014/15 is making a positive contribution towards business growth in the region. This is reflected in the 400 per cent increase in the level of investment by firms last year. As well as helping secure 964 new jobs as part of future projects, Invest NI support has also resulted in 721 new jobs actually created in Newry, Mourne and Down during 2014/15.
“During the course of the year we supported First Derivatives Group’s investment which will lead to 484 new jobs and helped Autoline Insurance to expand and create 60 new jobs over the next four years. We also announced two new investors for Newry, Shotclip and Netwatch, which is the direct result of the hard work and continued focus of Invest NI and Executive Ministers to promote Northern Ireland as a great location to invest, and a great location to grow your business.
“Through working in partnership with local firms we have helped support them to expand, look to new markets, invest in skills training for their staff and undertake R&D to remain ahead of the competition. For example, CM Precision Components Ltd benefited from Jobs Fund support to create five jobs as part of its export growth plans, while Burren Balsamics in Ballynahinch used an Invest NI Innovation Voucher and has secured its first business in Britain as a result.
“As well as this strong in-year performance, across the four years of this Programme for Government, we have helped leverage £160 million of investment in the local economy and supported projects which will create 2,209 new jobs,” added Mr Bleakney.
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