WHEN A successful family-owned Northern Ireland business is acquired by one of Canada’s top aerospace companies, is it an occasion to celebrate or one to regret?

According to the North’s Minister for Enterprise, the multimillion dollar buyout of Co Down-based John Huddleston Engineering (JHE) by Magellan Aerospace Corporation is something to welcome. Never mind the fact that yet another business can be struck off the ever diminishing list of flourishing indigenous, locally owned companies in Northern Ireland.

Arlene Foster believes the acquisition of JHE is an “endorsement” of both the Huddleston family’s hard work and the North’s aerospace sector.

JHE in Greyabbey was set up in 1964 by John Huddleston snr. Today it specialises in supplying high-precision components to the aerospace, defence and oil sectors.

It counts global companies such as Airbus, Bombardier and BAE Systems among its major clients.

Ontario-based Magellan is also one of its major customers. In the last financial year to March 2012, it bought Can$3.6 million (nearly £2.3 million or €2.9 million) of components from JHE.

That clearly was not enough though for the Canadian group, listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Instead it decided to write one final purchase order to JHE – for the entire business.

The Greyabbey engineering company employs 81 people in the North and a further 164 in Blackpool and Poland.

Magellan’s president and chief executive James Butyniec says it saw an opportunity to invest in a company that would complement its business and strengthen its manufacturing operations.

The full value of the purchase has not been disclosed, but according to information disclosed by Magellan to its shareholders, JHE’s revenues for the 12 months to the end of March 2012 were in the region of Can$25 million (£15.7 million/€20 million).

The Canadian group has stated that JHE will now be “integrated and managed” through Magellan’s existing UK operations, which employ more than 800 staff.

What makes a homegrown family-run success suddenly decide to sell after 48 years in business?

The Huddleston family has not publicly commented, but this latest acquisition reflects a trend which has seen flourishing companies of a certain size harvested by larger, more ambitious multinationals.

This is, says the president of US corporation Concentrix, not such a bad thing. Last September, Concentrix acquired Belfast-based GEM, a multilingual customer contact centre, which had been founded by local entrepreneur Philip Cassidy in 2000.

Christopher Caldwell says the US group had considered a number of potential investment locations before acquiring GEM.

Concentrix was keen to complement its existing “geographic footprint” in Europe.

According to Caldwell, what swung the investment in Belfast’s favour was the fact that Concentrix found they had more in common with both people and businesses in Northern Ireland than they might have first thought.

“We recognised that we shared the same culture when it came to both country culture and corporate culture and that was very important to us,” Caldwell adds.

“We quickly established that we shared the same philosophies as the team at GEM did. We don’t believe in putting ex-pats into run a business, we believe in letting the local business run their business, but they are also part of the Concentrix team.”

He says the Gem acquisition has worked “incredibly well”.

“We have a rich pool of labour in Northern Ireland, we are very happy with the talent and enthusiasm we have found in Belfast and the cost structure it offers is very good.”

He is keen to stress that the benefits do not just all run one way. “The quality of staff we have and the ability we have to get more talent means that Belfast for us will become the hub for all of Europe. I believe there will be significant growth in Belfast and I am extremely happy about our investment in Northern Ireland.”

Concentrix operates in 10 countries and has more than 7,500 employees around the world. That Belfast will play a key role in its future plans is a strong vote of confidence in its local employees and a potential boost down the line for the local economy.

The acquisition of local companies by outside investors such as Magellan Aerospace may mean that established family names disappear and that entrepreneurs become part of a larger corporate entity, but it also means that some local companies may get the opportunity to grow in a different direction.

If that in the end turns out to be a good thing for the North’s economy, it might be profitable to set sentiment aside.

The quality of staff we have means Belfast for us will become the hub for all of Europe