Northern Ireland’s Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister Arlene Foster has announced the creation of 241 jobs in Schrader Electronics facilities in Carrickfergus and Antrim on the back of a significant R&D investment.
Foster made the announcement on Tuesday at Schrader Electronics Ltd in Antrim.
Schrader Electronics Ltd will invest more than stg£56m in the expansion of its production facilities in Northern Ireland, and more than 200 high quality jobs will be created as a result over the next three years.
The company, which is a division of Schrader International, is considered a global market leader in the design, development and manufacture of remote tyre pressure monitoring systems for the automotive sector, supplying products to nearly every major car-maker in the world.
Research and development
With this investment, Schrader will undertake five R&D projects and a major staff training programme to equip engineers with the latest design and production techniques.
“We expect to double turnover within three years due to both tyre pressure monitoring becoming mandatory this year in Europe, and a number of exciting new product opportunities,” said Stephen McClelland, managing director of Schrader Electronics, who says the company owes its success to its strong R&D base.
“Our Northern Ireland operations are central to R&D, process and systems development and this investment will further enhance their role within the company. Invest NI’s support will ensure that we can move quickly to get the new staff in place and the R&D projects under way,” he added.
Of the investment, stg£9.7m has been supplied by Invest NI, partly financed by the European Regional Development Fund under the European Sustainable Competitiveness Programme for Northern Ireland.
“This is the second significant expansion by Schrader in the last three years and it is a ringing endorsement of the company’s Northern Ireland operations, which currently employ almost 1,000 people,” said Foster. “The 241 new jobs will generate almost stg£7m a year in salaries and offer high value employment and training opportunities for local engineers.”
