£2m contract brings new jobs

Finance for the £50m Growth Loan Fund – which provides loans to established Northern Ireland SMEs seeking to access growth finance – has been provided by Invest Northern Ireland and private investor, Northern Ireland Local Government Officers’ Superannuation Committee (NILGOSC).

ConveyorTek, designs, manufactures and services conveyor systems for the logistics, recycling and material handling industries.

The firm used the loan to invest in new equipment and R&D to meet growing international demand. A second 6,000 sq ft. production site was also established.

Philip Trimble, Managing Director at ConveyorTek, said: “Since receiving the loan in 2013 the company has had tremendous success, growing at a rate of 40% year on year.

“We have doubled our workforce and are investing in structural expansions. In February we expanded into a third factory based in Crumlin which now brings the current manufacturing facilities to over 35,000 sq ft. As the company expands we have ambitious growth plans and it is hoped that with continued support we will build two new factories at our old site in Ballinderry.

“We also have plans to create a service depot in England to support customers in the GB market later this year. Our fleet of installation vans have received an upgrade to support large scale conveyor belt installations in England, Scotland and Wales.

“Over the next three years we plan to create another 25 new jobs, once again doubling our workforce. We are also in the process of setting up an international distribution network as well as having a strong focus on improving our digital marketing presence.

“The Growth Loan Fund helped us kick start this extraordinary period of growth and we would highly recommend it to other SMEs who are looking an alternative means of finance. Neil, our investment manager, has been fantastic over the past few years and his ongoing support is greatly appreciated.”

Neil McCabe, Senior Investment Manager at WhiteRock Capital Partners said: “ConveyorTek has experienced significant growth in the last two and a half years and is one of our many success stories.”