Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister Jonathan Bell has congratulated Moy Park on winning ‘Food Manufacturing Company of the Year 2015′ at the Food Manufacture Excellence Awards in London.

Speaking after the awards earlier this week Jonathan Bell said: “To win the prestigious title of ‘Food Manufacturing Company of the Year 2015′ is a great recognition for one of our largest and most successful companies. Moy Park is Northern Ireland’s biggest food manufacturer, employing over 6,000 people at its three sites in Ballymena, Dungannon and Craigavon. The company has consistently demonstrated manufacturing excellence with an emphasis on strong leadership and development, which has resulted in them becoming a global market leader in their industry. To win an accolade from the Food Manufacture Excellence Awards is a tremendous achievement and a fitting acknowledgement to an export-focused, international business which is prospering as a result of its commitment to growth, through continuous investment in its facilities, products and people.

“The manufacturing sector is an important sector for Northern Ireland. It accounts for 14% of all local economic output and accounts for one in every nine local jobs. Last year’s announcement by Moy Park of £170million investment was a major endorsement of Northern Ireland as a world class manufacturing location for international companies in food and other sectors. Despite recent bad news from Michelin, the manufacturing sector has been performing particularly well recently. Over the past year to March 2015, the sector added more than 1,800 jobs with output growth outperforming the UK average. This is in no small part to our highly skilled dedicated workforce and I intend to ensure I do all I can, as Enterprise Minister, to continue to work to attract leading manufactures and global market leaders to invest here in Northern Ireland and create high quality employment opportunities.”