TYRONE agri-business company Capper Trading is proposing to build a state-of-the-art agri-development hub on lands opposite its current site close to the M1 motorway junction at Tamnamore near Dungannon.
The development comprises22,000 sq m to facilitate processing of straw and animal feeds, alongside new facilities for research and development and transport logistics.
And if approved, not only would the scheme create 20 construction jobs during an anticipated 10 year programme, but also add 40 permanent staff at Capper, bringing its payroll to 120.
The facility will enhance the existing manufacturing, transport and retail operation at Capper, which generates annual sales of £20 million from its fuel, feed and haulage products and services.
The business, which has been operating for more than 40 years, has broadened its expertise in milled timber, animal feeds and logistic services, generating new products and services that are now in international demand.
In the past five years the company has invested close to £5 million in R&D, helped by £1.8m of support from Invest NI, spurring new growth in local and overseas markets, and that rapid growth has fuelled the firm’s desire to expand.
Managing director Phillip Hill said: “Capper has operated from its current site at Tamnamore since being founded. We are a local employer supplying agri-businesses, large and small, throughout the UK and Ireland.
"In recent years we have continued our tradition of stewardship and continued innovation which has placed Capper at the heart of the agri-industry and rural community for more than 40 years.
"Our investment in the development of new products and services has led to an expansion in our agri-industry and transport logistics businesses, and an increase in demand for our services in new international markets."
He added: "This proposed agri development hub on land opposite our existing site will allow us to maintain our growth, because more than 500 agri-businesses across the UK and Ireland rely on our products every day.
"Our location has been key to our development, providing a strategic location on the highway network from which we can continue to support local customers and reach future markets.”
Capper will now undertake a 12-week pre-application community consultation about the proposals, led by planning consultants Turley and Enniskillen-based architect Studio Forty Four, with an outline planning application due to be submitted in late spring to Mid-Ulster District Council.
