Ulster Carpets Invests In NI

An iconic Co Armagh brand, Ulster Carpets is to retain its manufacturing base in Portadown.

This will safeguard the futures of around 400 staff and will be welcome news as the firm is known to have been considering relocating to Asia.

All its significant competitors are now based there and benefit from the fact that workers are paid only a fraction of the salaries enjoyed in the British Isles.

Now, following a comprehensive review of its business strategy, Ulster Carpets has revealed that it is staying put – and will be ploughing around £20 million into the business over the next five years.

The company plans to sell off its former headquarters factory at Castleisland, on the Garvaghy Road, and its other site at Carn and switch all its operations to a state-of-the-art factory at Seagoe.

It stressed that there would be no job losses and confirmed that workers would be moving from short-time hours to a full five-day week.

Ulster Carpets is the only surviving major woven-carpet manufacturer in Britain and Ireland.

In March last year, Ulster Carpets invested £15m in a high-tech weaving system to enable it to take on cheap competition from east Asia.

(BMcC/KMcA)