Up to 500 jobs will be created by the Northern Ireland-based engineering company F G Wilson as a result of a £27 million sterling (€44.7 million) investment at the firm's west Belfast, Larne and Monkstown sites over the next three-and-a-half years, it was announced yesterday.
Originally a family-owned firm, F G Wilson is now a subsidiary of the US company Caterpillar. The investment will be backed by the North's Industrial Development Board, which is understood to have put up £8.1 million through selective financial assistance. It is aimed at increasing exports of electric generating sets and components. Around 300 of the new jobs are expected to go to F G Wilson's Springvale site in west Belfast, an area classified as economically deprived. F G Wilson already employs 2,600 people at its three locations in Northern Ireland.
The company currently manufactures around 30,000 diesel generators a year but management expects this output to double over the next five years. The North's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, yesterday welcomed the announcement as a "tremendous boost" for Northern Ireland's economy. "This is a substantial investment in Northern Ireland by Caterpillar, the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment. The investment sends a very strong signal to other North American corporations that Northern Ireland in general and west Belfast in particular is the right place for world class manufacturers."
Both Mr Trimble and the Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, were present at yesterday's announcement. Mr Mallon said the development of new employment opportunities would be a "litmus test" for the North's new administration. "This investment signals a clear commitment by government to targeting social need and, in doing so, developing a new society based on equality and fairness.
"However, the creation of a better standard and quality of life is not possible without partnership - partnership between companies and the devolved administration, between companies and their communities and between companies and the education and training sectors. Today's investment is evidence of the importance of such partnerships," Mr Mallon concluded.
