Northern Irish pharma group Almac has announced plans to build a new facility in Dundalk, Co Louth, which will result in the creation of 100 jobs in the first two years.
Founded in Northern Ireland in 1968, the Almac Group has risen to become one of the country’s largest companies, and was the first business founded there to reach £1bn in value in 1997.
With a number of operations around the globe including in the US, Japan and Singapore, the company has now acquired its first site just across the border from Northern Ireland in Dundalk, Co Louth.
The multimillion-pound investment will see the building of a new 32,000 sq ft facility that will be used by Almac’s pharma services and clinical services divisions.
In a statement, Almac said the facility will protect itself from any potential harm brought on by Brexit as it will offer “continued presence within the European Union in the long term”.
When the new facility opens, Almac has said that it will hire 100 pharma staff over the course of two years, in addition to 300 jobs being created at its North American office.
Third facility on island of Ireland
This will result in a global workforce of 5,000 by the end of this year, including the recent announcement of a £27m investment at its global headquarters in Craigavon, Co Armagh.
This marks the third Almac-owned facility on the island of Ireland following its acquisition of the Arran Chemical Company in Athlone late last year.
Back in 2014, it also announced one of its largest single job creations at its Craigavon office, where it revealed plans to create 348 jobs over the course of five years.
Welcoming the investment by Almac, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mary Mitchell O’Connor, TD said: “This is a very exciting project for Dundalk and builds on the strong cluster of multinational companies who have very successfully located in that town in recent years and who have found it a great base from which to promote their sales into other EU member states.”
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