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Invest NI has announced that its support helped secure £85 million of business investment in the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area during 2025/26. The agency provided almost £16 million in assistance to help local businesses innovate, increase productivity and 400 new jobs are being created.
Among the firms benefiting is Newry based SeaPark Consultancy, the Dundalk founded company which is driving digital innovation in data management from its base in the city, where Invest NI has helped it establish a new Data and Analytics team.
Alistair Quinn, Head of Southern Regional Business at Invest NI, said the results marked a significant increase on the previous year. He said: “Our support in the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area was twice that of last year and as a direct result business investment in the area has nearly doubled and more new jobs will be created.
“The 400 new jobs are good quality jobs, with over 80 per cent paying wages above the Private Sector Median.”
The Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing sector saw a particularly strong increase in investment, accounting for half of all investment in the district and nearly half of the new jobs created. Alistair said: “In particular we saw a strong increase in investments by businesses in the Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing sector, which accounted for half of the investment in the area, and nearly half of the new jobs.
“For example, we provided support to McGuiness Mechanical Engineering to double its workforce with 28 new jobs as part of a £3.5m investment plan to increase its exports to the Republic of Ireland. Also in the sector, we’ve worked closely with Pronto Engineering, Sheaney, Versaffix, and Viltra to improve operational efficiencies, strengthen leadership, and increase digitalisation. They are now increasing their workforces with a combined 24 jobs to help grow sales outside Northern Ireland.
“And in Crossmaglen, mobile crushing and screening equipment manufacturer, Roco, has already seen impressive export sales growth in the last year with our trade support. This has led to a £2.5m company investment in a factory expansion and 30 new jobs in the area.”
In Warrenpoint, food to go manufacturer DeliLites is investing £19 million in innovation and automation to broaden its 'heat to eat' product range with Invest NI support, with the move set to create 130 new jobs.
Quinn also highlighted a marked rise in research and development activity. He said: “We also saw a significant increase in the amount of investment in R&D and innovation, a ten-fold increase on last year. This is very encouraging as it shows more companies are realising the importance of innovation to staying ahead of the competition and ensure the long-term viability of their business.”
He added that the agency's Ambition to Grow and Business Innovation Grant programmes had allowed it to reach more small businesses than before. “These programmes are helping us reach small businesses that previously would not have been able to access Invest NI support. We have helped 55 entrepreneurs and SMEs in the Newry, Mourne & Down District Council area innovate, create good jobs and increase external sales through these programmes to date.”
Alistair said the agency's relationship with the council had also proved valuable in identifying businesses with export potential. “Our strong relationship with the Council also ensures businesses engaging with council programmes that have export potential get referred to Invest NI. In conjunction with the Council, we held a regional business advice clinic in Warrenpoint to help businesses access expert guidance, explore opportunities and connect with other local business owners. We also ran Business Breakfasts on access to finance, export advice, R&D, skills and productivity in the local area to engage with businesses, helping them understand what support is available and how we can support them.”
The Newry, Mourne & Down District Council Briefing has now been updated and includes data on Invest NI support over the past five years, from 2021-22 to 2025-26. View it at www.investni.com
