Dungannon: Industrial business struggling to grow in mid Ulster

In mid Ulster, Industrial businesses are struggling to find spaces to grow in

A lack of industrial space in mid Ulster is holding back economic growth, a business agency has said.

More than 70 small businesses operate out of Dungannon Enterprise Centre ranging from crafts to retail and manufacturing.

Centre manager Brian McAuley said half of them would love to move out and grow but cannot find anywhere to move to.

He said demand for space is so strong even if all 70 moved out he could fill the space again.

"What needs to happen is some sort of intervention from local government, Invest NI and central government," he said.

"They need to seriously look at this because it's not going away - it's gone on for a decade now," he added.

"For the last two recessions and the pandemic, local businesses here have flourished and yet we still can't get space to grow."

Mid Ulster is known for its manufacturing and engineering talent, with a cluster of well-established employers.

One of them is Edge Innovate - makes machinery in Dungannon that is then shipped all over the world.

"Our industry is growing dramatically at the minute, but that growth is being stunted by the lack of industrial space," said managing director Darragh Cullen.

"It's a disadvantage for start-up companies."

Darragh Cullen said his industry is being stunted by a lack of industrial space

"While Edge is owned locally, a lot of the bigger companies in this sector are internationally owned - those owners will have no problem in setting up factories in other parts of the world if we don't address this issue soon" he added.

Buying land for this type of development isn't as lucrative as other uses.

BBC News NI has seen a report, commissioned by Mid Ulster District Council, on how to solve this problem.

The council's chair Paul McClean said: "Council has identified land in the report and we don't want to disclose that, but we are looking at that and we have put that forward so the department can take that and run with it.

"In essence, we have done the spade work."

In a statement, Invest NI said: "The council has invited Invest NI to join it in a working group to feed into a strategy on industrial land, and to look at short and long-term solutions to address the current need.

"It is committed to working with the council... to develop a solution to enable economic growth in the area."