The video rental firm Xtra-vision has announced that it is planning to invest around £4 million (€5.07 million) in Northern Ireland over the next three years. The first part of the investment will be a flagship store on the Lisburn Road in Belfast, bringing the number of people employed by the company locally to 330. Xtra-vision currently has a total of 74 stores across the region, but the company says that it is keen to evolve, and to compete against new technology such as pay-per-view cable channels.

The senior vice-president of Xtra-vision's parent company Blockbuster International, Mr Chris Wyatt, said that the industry was no longer just about video rental.

"It is rentable home entertainment," he said. "In recent years we have moved away from being a pure video rental chain, and have become a broader entertainment group."