AFTER over four years vacant the £6 million Strabane Business Park has its first tenant.
The Invest NI owned park has announced that Strabane-based manufacturer, Dragon Brand Foods is set to move on to the Melmount Road site, in an investment worth in excess over half a million pounds.
As part of the development Dragon Brand, currently based on the Dublin Road, is due to begin construction on a new 7,500 sq ft manufacturing factory, as part of plans to grow its business. The Co Tyrone company is also creating four new jobs as part of the investment.
Dragon brand Foods, which specialises in making curry and gravy sauces, is making a total investment of £550,000, with Invest NI offering an additional £153,563 towards creating the new roles, researching and developing new products and help building food safety protocols to drive growth in the Republic of Ireland market.
Director of Dragon Brand Foods, Paul McGuigan said the development was part of the company's strategy to "pursue growth through investing in new products and innovation".
“Building work for our new factory has already commenced and we look forward to growing our workforce to help us deliver valuable new contracts, particularly in the UK and Republic of Ireland markets.”
Invest NI’s north west regional manager, Des Gartland added:
“The company’s decision to build a new factory at Strabane Business Park is a significant commitment and has involved a lot of preparatory work. I am pleased we have been able to help the company through this process and I look forward to seeing their plans come to fruition.”
In August last year the Irish News revealed how the £6 million taxpayer funded Strabane Business Park had failed to create a single job since opening in 2013.
Designed to address the shortage of industrial land and be a catalyst for economic development, Invest NI spent more than £3.1 million buying the land and another £2.7 million developing the business park. It followed previous successful industrial estates in the Dublin Road and Orchard Road areas of the town.
Out of the 48 Invest NI business parks across Northern Ireland, 11 are fully tenanted. In terms of overall landholding, they own 2,831 acres of which 647 acres (23 per cent) remains available to support business development.
