Engineering firm Gallagher & McKinney will hire BIM/CAD operatives, junior engineers and skilled fitters and welders, as well as five new apprentices each year.
Gallagher & McKinney – a mechanical engineering and piping firm in Derry – has opened its newly built manufacturing facility at Skeoge Industrial Park, and now has plans to create 14 new jobs.
The positions will help Gallagher & McKinney achieve its ambitions of building “internal digital expertise”, the company said. It will be hiring BIM/CAD operatives, junior engineers and skilled fitters and welders. It also plans to invest in its apprentice training scheme, with five new apprentices being hired each year.
The company provides contractor and sub-contractor project management on piping projects, which include the manufacture and installation of steelwork support systems.
Invest NI has offered the company £94,500 towards the new jobs, half of which are already in place. Invest NI’s director of advanced manufacturing and engineering, Bill Montgomery, said the new facility “will significantly increase the company’s capacity to bring more work in house and secure larger projects to meet the growing needs of clients”.
Seamus Mellon, managing director at Gallagher & McKinney, added: “Historically we have worked as a sub-contractor on large piping projects but we have recently acted as principal contractor on substantial projects with Seagate Technology and are now looking to build on this element of our business.
“Investing in our team is crucial to our strategy to grow our business and bid for larger contracts and we are grateful for Invest NI’s support to recruit and get these positions in place quickly.
“We have ambitious plans for the business with a focus on key sectors including pharmaceutical, waste to energy and data centres in both Great Britain and Europe. This investment in both our new facility and new people places Gallagher & McKinney in a strong position to deliver against these plans.”
In recent weeks, Invest NI has announced that it is helping a number of engineering and manufacturing companies in Northern Ireland to expand, including Antrim’s MAW Engineering and Armstrong Medical in Coleraine.