Engineering firm creating 298 jobs as part of £28m expansion
THE founder of a Lisburn-based engineering business which announced the creation of 298 jobs yesterday has told how he set up the company in a bid to keep his two sons from emigrating.
Co Tyrone industrialist John Cunningham’s Camlin Group, which makes products for the electricity and rail industries, employs 400 people across Europe, including 251 in Lisburn.
The 74-year-old Cookstown man set up the company after a decision to sell his previous business in 2008 and retire, but his retirement lasted for all of seven days.
“It was the worst week of my life,” he said. “I realised very quickly that my two boys would emigrate, and the only difference would be the money I had would allow them to go first-class.
“So, I decided to start again and build a company that would really serve the purpose of anchoring the family here in Northern Ireland.”
The new firm, Kelvateck, was soon renamed Camlin — his mother’s maiden name. The company’s turnover and workforce has continued to grow year-onyear, taking in £29.5m last year.
The new £28m expansion includes a £5m contribution from Invest NI.
Yesterday, the head of the economic support agency, Alastair Hamilton, said the 298 new jobs would eventually generate more than £9.5m in salaries.
Mr Cunningham confirmed yesterday that he would step back from the day-to-day running of the company in the new year but would continue to manage the overall group.
His sons, Peter and Michael, are both key figures in the expanding firm, which has sites in Italy, Poland and Switzerland.
“We have put a lot of investment into developing various technologies, and we’re just beginning to exploit those,” Mr
Cunningham said.“We have the facilities, we’ve got the markets and we’re really beginning to move quite strongly.”
While he may have started the company for his sons’ benefit, the Co Tyrone man said that he wanted to spread the wealth around.
“It’s crucial, in my opinion, that wealth is spread throughout the province,” he added.
“It’s important that people in Enniskillen and Ballycastle have highly paid, satisfying jobs, that it’s all not concentrated in the Belfast area.”
Last year Camlin opened a new operation in Cookstown.
Mr Cunningham said he wanted to open in several more regional towns in the next decade.
“It’s part of a strategy to put the benefits of added-value manufacturing right throughout the whole province,” he added.