THE Industrial Development Board and Mr Ronnie Wilson's Bridgewater Country Foods have combined to invest £11.5 million in Bridgewater's Unipork and Ulster Farmers' Bacon companies, safeguarding 723 jobs in rural areas of the North.

The IDB is providing £5.5 million towards the recovery package through grants, loans and share capital. Bridgewater chief executive Mr Wilson said that the investment "would dramatically improve the company's ability to meet customer requirements for value added products." He added: "The investment programme will make an important contribution to Bridgewater's international competitiveness and will provide a solid base for our future development."

Announcing the investment, Economy Minister Baroness Denton said: "This is the first phase of an innovative and ambitious long term programme to develop Bridgewater Country Foods into a major food service company, with new products and a substantial increase in customer outlets."

Bridgewater was taken over from the Pigs Marketing Board by Roata, a private company in which Mr Wilson is a major shareholder, in 1994. Under its previous ownership, Bridgewater had been a severe loss maker.

Mr Wilson is best known as the founder and major shareholder in Monaghan Mushrooms, which supplies 25 per cent of the mushrooms sold in British supermarkets. He was also a member of a consortium which bid unsuccessfully for the Leckpatrick dairy group, which was taken over by Golden Vale two years ago.