Our trip to Northern Ireland

Our trip began with a visit to Lynas Foodservice, in Coleraine, and a meeting with their Managing Director, Andrew Lynas. Lynas Foodservice employs around 700 people, providing over 5,000 different food products to over 5,000 customers across Northern Ireland, Ireland and Scotland, including the likes of KFC, Café Nero, Wetherspoons, Centre Parks. 

This was our second visit to Lynas Foodservice, with our first being as part of the research process for Ladders of Opportunity: How top UK businesses create new routes into work, when we profiled the exceptional mental health provision on offer to Lynas Foodservice employees. We discussed a range of topical issues impacting employment in Northern Ireland – whether that be recent hikes in energy costs, issues around our welfare system blocking people into employment, and how the structure of the Apprenticeship Levy in Northern Ireland is limiting businesses ability to bring young people into work. 

Following our meeting with Andrew Lynas, we returned to Belfast, where we visited Rob Heron, the Managing Partner at EY Northern Ireland. EY employs 1,100 people in Northern Ireland, and over 5,200 on the island of Ireland. They have also contributed to our upcoming report on the bridge between secondary education and the workplace, which we look forward to sharing in July of this year. 

Later, we met with Alison Frost, one of the Jobs Foundation’s board of Trustees. Alison has just opened the Bedford Hotel in Belfast, an 80-room hotel in the heart of the city centre. Speaking about the hotel’s opening, Ciaran said “it is about creating sustainable employment, supporting local supply chains, and contributing to the ongoing vibrancy of the city.”

On Friday, we travelled to Ballymena, where we visited Christian Reynolds, Managing Director of Wrightbus. Wrightbus is a bus manufacturer that employs 1,300 people and has been operating in Northern Ireland since 1946. Following our meeting with Christian, we met with Adam Swan, Wrightbus head of HR, before a full factory tour with Jason Lorimer, Wrightbus Manufacturing Director. 

Wrightbus have an inspiring story to tell – after being purchased by Jo Bamford in 2019, the company has completely revamped their product lineup to include electric and hydrogen buses, and in the process, have created hundreds of new jobs. They have ambitious expansion plans over the coming years to bring even more local people into high-skilled, well-paying jobs.

This was followed by a trip to Galgorm, a luxury hotel and spa set within 550 acres of parkland, to meet with Colin Johnston, Galgorm’s CEO, and Greg McKinley, Director of Operations at the Gallagher Trust. 

Galgorm are a huge local employer, providing a career to hundreds of people in the hospitality sector across Northern Ireland. Colin was keen to stress that these jobs are not just part-time or temporary work, but established careers which can employ people throughout their life. As part of this, Galgorm has been crucial in establishing a hospitality college in Northern Ireland to build skills and experience amongst young people – but again, he pointed to issues around the Apprenticeship Levy as preventing the college from achieving its full potential. 

Similarly, The Gallagher Trust was another beacon of supporting local people into employment. Established in 2017, it expects to be able to support the Ballymena community until 2035, by allocating circa £350,000 per annum to partners that are driving job creation, skills development and assisting disadvantaged adults across the region.

This trip was a key milestone as we continue to grow our coalition of job creators across Northern Ireland, ahead of the launch of Jobs Foundation Northern Ireland later this year. 

If you would like to learn more about this upcoming project, or support our work in the region, please email info@thejobsfoundation.com.