County Antrim-based Unicorn Group (www.useunicorn.com) is set to develop a new business base after buying the 17.5-acre former Coca-Cola site outside Lisburn, which was on the market for £3.75 million.

The group manufactures a range of goods — from medical and recycling bins to PVC floor tiles — at sites in Lisburn and Markethill, and its sales have grown by more than 40% in the last two years.

It employs around 74 people in its three Northern Ireland businesses and has “recently recruited multi-lingual employees for its business development, sales, marketing and product development teams”. It plans to “relocate its head office and existing manufacturing sites to the new location” over the next six months.

The former Coca-Cola site was officially opened in 1968 by Terence O’Neill, then Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, and it was one of two plants producing Coca-Cola in Ireland until all production was moved in 2008 to a larger facility on a 45-acre site at Knockmore Hill, Lisburn.

Roger Pannell, managing director of Unicorn Group, said: “The Lambeg site is an opportunity for us to have all our business production and administration in one location.

"We have strengthened our existing workforce recently, with a recruitment drive, and we are excited about the future of our manufacturing operations in Northern Ireland.

"Once the site is fully developed, we will be encouraging small and large businesses to join us at the refurbished business park, which will further enhance jobs in the area.

“We’ve been acquiring businesses for the past 20 years, and we have focused on growing our business and manufacturing operations in Northern Ireland. Unicorn Group is actively looking for more businesses to acquire.”