Almac creating up to 100 new jobs in Londonderry

Northern Ireland pharmaceutical firm Almac is planning to establish a project management and software engineering facility in Londonderry.

It could create up to 100 jobs in the city over the next three years.

The company has started recruiting and will confirm the project when it is confident it can hire enough people.

Almac, which is based in County Armagh, has a global workforce of more than 5,500 people.

Alan Armstrong, its chief executive, said the business was continuing to grow.

"We are fortunate to be able to locate our employees anywhere we choose, offering greater flexibility and access to our various range of services," he said.

"Given the skills pipeline coming from Ulster University at Magee and Coleraine, combined with the excellent choice of workspace available in the Derry/Londonderry area, we have decided to explore this region as our next Almac location."

The firm said that experience of the pharmaceutical industry was not an essential requirement for the roles as on-the-job training would be provided.

Aside from its operations in Northern Ireland, Almac also has major facilities in the Republic of Ireland, England and the US.

Almac develops its own drugs but a major part of its business is manufacturing products and conducting tests for big global firms.

SDLP Foyle MLA Sinéad McLaughlin, who represents Derry, said the creation of the jobs was "great news for the city".

She said that Almac's decision reinforced her party's argument that "we must make the most of the Brexit Protocol and Northern Ireland's dual membership of the UK internal market and the EU single market".