MPE plans £4.5m investment

The Head of Transport, Construction and Tourism at Invest NI provided details of the planned investment in a memo to Trade Minister Arlene Foster last year.

In the internal communication last summer William McGuinness stated: “MPE is investing almost £4.5m at its existing operation in Londonderry and Invest NI has agreed to contribute a total financial assistance package valued, at £858,000, in the form of capital, marketing and training grants.”

He advised the Minister that the package would “support new business opportunities with overseas customers on a range of aircraft programmes and also reduce reliance on Bombardier, which has been Maydown’s strategic objective for some years.”

“As a shareholder, Bombardier strongly supports this objective. Invest NI has agreed to contribute a package of support valued at £858k towards the investment,

“The project is expected to result in 63 new jobs and safeguard 30 existing jobs at the factory and will be implemented over the next three years,” wrote Mr McGuinness.

MPE, established in 1985, is now one of the largest sub-contract precision engineering companies in Northern Ireland and, by Invest NI’s reckoning, the last significant precision engineering company in the North West.

MPE makes a range of machined components and small sub-assemblies, primarily for the aerospace industry, whilst specialising in the manufacture of high value components with short lead time order requirements.

The ongoing £4.5m investment following an announcement in January 2009 that MPE had won a prestigious contract to supply components for two major Airbus programmes.

“This contract relates to the Airbus 330 series commercial jet and new Airbus 400M military transport and tanker aircraft. MPE won this contract as a direct result of its involvement in Invest NI’s European Aerospace Initiative and through working closely with Invest NI’s Trade Development Centre in Düsseldorf,” Mr McGuinness’ memo explained.