Up to 50 new jobs are being created after Belfast firm Contract Services clinched a £30m social housing contract.
The installation and maintenance company will deliver a range of maintenance services for up to 10,000 homes belonging to the Abacus Housing Consortium in a lucrative deal worth £6m each year for five years.
The west Belfast firm secured the ‘all trades’ contract – one of the biggest of its kind in the sector – and will be working on around 6,000 homes across two regions in the north and south east of Northern Ireland and in Belfast.
The housing consortium acts as the central purchasing unit for five housing associations across Northern Ireland – Oaklee Trinity, South Ulster, Open Door, Ark and Ulidia.
The new deal for Contract Services, which also has offices in Londonderry and Dublin, is expected to be rolled out over an additonal 4,000 homes, carrying out mechanical, electrical and general building services.
The new posts, expected to be 36 initially and later rising to 50, will be complemented by the purchase of a fleet of 50 new vehicles.
Contract Services founder and managing director Rory McNaughton is a former Belfast Telegraph Young Businessperson of the Year.
He said the firm, which began in 2005 with a single engineer, now employs 150 people and last year enjoyed a turnover of over £12m.
“We have developed and grown year on year to get to the point where we can win and deliver a huge contract like this by providing a team of dedicated and skilled in-house tradesmen to provide all the required services,” he said.
Meanwhile in Co Fermanagh, insurance company Lakeland Trading Solutions Ltd has set up a contact centre in Enniskillen creating 49 jobs over the next three years.
The firm, trading as LIMA, is a new company which will primarily sell home and contents insurance.
Enniskillen man Matthew Martin launched the business with colleague Lee Hanford. Mr Hanford said his home town offered the best start-up option.
“After considering other UK locations, we were convinced that Enniskillen offered us the best business environment in terms of cost-effectiveness along with the quality and availability of talent,” he said.
“As an Enniskillen man myself, it is great to be able to give something back to the area by setting up the business here.”
Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster revealed Invest NI was supporting the new investment with a grant of £343,000.
“This investment underlines that it is not just Belfast that investors look at when considering where to locate in Northern Ireland.”
Find this article on the Belfast Telegraph.
Caption: ory McNaughton (centre), Danny McLean (left) and Paul Kane of the Belfast-based installation and maintenance company Contract Services