The engineering group, RLC, is to create 80 jobs in Northern Ireland as part of a new £35 million investment project in Newtownabbey.

RLC, which provides components and services to leading aerospace companies in Europe and North America, currently employs 258 people in Northern Ireland and 850 in total.

The Isle of Man headquartered company, which will be the first tenant at Invest NI's 140 acre Global Point business park on the outskirts of Belfast, will also locate a major new research and development project in the North.

The North's Enterprise Minister, Jonathan Bell, said the decision was a major boost for the local aerospace sector. "Its decision to locate its new hard metal machining operations and its highly innovative R&D project here in Northern Ireland was greatly influenced by the availability of Invest NI's Global Point green field site and RLC's confidence that it can recruit skilled workers," he said.

Invest NI has pledged nearly £6.5million of support for the new facility and the R&D project. The Minister said the new jobs are expected to contribute more than £2.8million a year in salaries to the local economy.

Sarah Holt, RLC director, said the group had recently secured high technology, long-term projects with leading global aerospace companies, which could create "significant opportunities" for it.

Speaking at the investment announcement in Newtownabbey Ms Holt said: “To deliver on these contracts we need to invest in a major R&D project and enhance our manufacturing capability.

“Having considered our options we have decided that, taking into account the availability of skills and the support from Invest NI, Northern Ireland offers an excellent and cost-effective location from which to service these contracts.”