Moy Park Ballymena plant to share in 628 jobs boost

Enterprise Trade and Investment Minister Arlene Foster is pictured with Janet McCollum, Chief Executive of Moy Park and Lord Morrow after announcing a £170m expansion by the company that will provide 628 new jobs across three sites in Dungannon, Craigavon and Ballymena.

The new jobs are being created over a four year period across Moy Park’s sites in Ballymena, Craigavon and Dungannon, with a variety of roles available including 70 high value posts based in a new Innovation Centre.

Announcing the investment by Moy Park on Monday, DETI Minister Arlene Foster said it will mean a £10.5million increase in wages and salaries annually for the local economy and described it as “a huge boost of confidence in Northern Ireland”.

“The expansion will further enhance Moy Park’s contribution to the local economy by enabling the business to achieve a substantial growth in sales, mostly to customers outside Northern Ireland, by 2018,” she said.

The new jobs, 100 of which are already in place, include roles in management, supervisory, processing and financial shared services.

Invest Northern Ireland is providing financial assistance of £9.5 million towards the expansion.

Speaking on what the investment will mean for Moy Park, Janet McCollum Moy Park CEO said: “Moy Park started as a small farming company in 1943 and has grown into a top UK business with a £1.5billion turnover. We continue to have big ambitions and this investment will allow us to further grow our operations and create new jobs in Northern Ireland.”