Arbroath-based AGR Automation Ltd has set up an engineering base in Ballymena that is expected to lead to the creation of 22 jobs over a five-year period.

Invest Northern Ireland has offered £49,971 of support through its Skills Growth Programme plus an employment grant of £220,000 for the new jobs, which will initially be mostly mechanical and electrical technician posts. AGR designs and manufactures bespoke automation solutions for high-volume parts assembly, mainly in the medical, personal care and industrial electromechanical-device markets.

Managing director Derek Gaston said: “AGR has grown rapidly, and its engineering capabilities are recognised by ‘blue-chip’ clients in Europe and the USA. We undertook a strategic review of our operations and concluded that we needed a second engineering site.

"Having considered a number of locations, we decided that Ballymena offered the best solution in terms of quality, cost and the support available. Our second site will initially focus on parts machining and sub-assembly for the main Arbroath site but will become self-sufficient in due course.”

Alastair Hamilton, Invest NI’s chief executive, said: “Our organisation has been in talks with AGR over the past 12 months, to encourage the company to select Northern Ireland as the location for its second site. I’m delighted that it has chosen to set up here and will be creating jobs in our engineering sector.”