A Co Tyrone construction materials manufacturer is investing £10 million in new production facilities to fight the effects of a controversial new government tax, it was announced today.
Acheson & Glover said it was going ahead with the projects in Belcoo and Fivemiletown despite last year's introduction of a tax on quarried sand, gravel and crushed rock which has caused major problems within the aggregate industry.
Managing director Mr Raymond Acheson said the investments were "essential" in order to minimise the effects of the tax of £1.60 per tonne of raw material and save jobs.
The company is investing £5 million of an ultra modern facility at Belcoo to recycle a by-product from its sand making operations into lime granules for use in the agriculture industry.
The site currently employs 40 of the company's 330 workers, but that will increase to 55 once the 47,000 sq ft plant - the first major production facility of its kind in Britain or Ireland - opens in September.
Acheson & Glover is investing a further £5 million in Europe's most advanced paving factory in Fivemiletown.
When completed next month it will be able to turn out up to 500,000 sq metres of paving a year in a various shapes, sizes and colours.
Mr Acheson said: "While other local firms are either going out of business or are locating south of the border where the tax does not apply, we're determined to remain at the forefront of the local construction materials manufacturing industry.
"Continuing to invest heavily in new facilities enables us to produce innovate, superior quality added-value products extremely efficiently."
He said that without the new investment there was "no doubt" jobs would have been lost at the company operations in both Co Fermanagh and Co Tyrone.
PA