A £9.8 million development project that has attracted support from Invest Northern Ireland will potentially create an additional 40 new jobs at Mallusk-based Canyon Europe.

Invest NI’s £1.75 million offer of assistance combined with the strength of the local workforce were two of the leading factors that led to the parent company’s decision to develop the project within Northern Ireland.

Commenting on the development Hugh Ross, Managing Director of Canyon Europe said: “This new project will help position Canyon Europe as both a product development and production centre enhancing bespoke design and rapid response production capability for the European market. It will also increase our exporting ability and potentially allow us to service customer needs in the wider global marketplace”.

The Mallusk plant, currently employing 63 staff, was selected above a number of other locations within the Canyon Corporation company group including a sister factory in Vietnam.

The new development project will also position the company as a key European manufacturer of trigger sprayers and will allow Canyon Europe to establish a centre of excellence at its Mallusk premises to create innovative new products.

The company has already developed links with Queen’s University, Belfast and Bangor College of Further and Higher Education in terms of its research and development strategy and plans to further strengthen these links as well as forge a productive working relationship with the University of Ulster once the project is firmly under way.

Congratulating the company on the new development project Invest NI Chief Executive Leslie Morrison, said: “This project represents a significant turning point in the development of Canyon Europe Ltd and is a testament to the quality of the local management and workforce. Servicing the new contract will help ensure the company’s continued success, competitiveness and exporting ability.”

Producing plastic trigger sprayers and dispensing pumps for multinationals, private label companies, distributors and filling companies Canyon Europe recently secured a major contract with a European Multi National client to produce over 60 million units annually, with production scheduled to start in January 2006.

A subsidiary of the Japanese owned Canyon Corporation, Canyon Europe was set up locally in 1987 to provide a base for the parent company’s UK and mainland European manufacturing and sales operations.

(SP/MB)