Andor Technology to create 166 jobs as part of £18m investment strategy

ANDOR TECHNOLOGY plans to create 166 jobs as part of an £18 million (€21 million) investment that will underpin an ambitious five-year growth strategy to target new markets and acquisitions.

The Northern Ireland company, which develops and manufactures high-performance scientific digital cameras, also aims to more than double its turnover as part of the strategy.

Andor has been offered financial assistance totalling £1.5 million towards the cost of the investment project from Invest Northern Ireland and a further £18,200 from the North’s Department for Employment and Learning.

Andor chief executive Conor Walsh said the company’s success to date had been built on “continuous re-investment in research and development”.

“Our objective has always been to be the market leader in specialist scientific cameras,” Mr Walsh said.

“This investment is the next step in the process and Invest NI’s support will be invaluable in helping us to ramp up production levels and quickly take advantage of market opportunities.”

The company operates from a purpose-built high-tech facility in Belfast’s Springvale Business Park which features optical, electronic and mechanical workshops, as well as clean-room, vacuum and electronic processing facilities.

As part of the investment project, Andor intends to restructure and upgrade the facility and expand into additional buildings.

During a visit to the site yesterday, the North’s Minister of Enterprise, Arlene Foster, welcomed the jobs and investment boost for Northern Ireland.

She said Andor had succeeded in building an “excellent reputation across an impressive and diverse customer base”, which she said would in turn have a direct impact on the local economy.

“Almost all the new jobs being created will pay above the Northern Ireland private-sector median, with two-thirds paying 25 per cent above this level,” Ms Foster said.

“Overall they will contribute some £7.6 million to the economy in salaries annually.”

The west Belfast company, which began life as a spin-out from Queen’s University Belfast in 1989, employs more than 321 people in 16 offices worldwide and has a 10,000-strong customer base in 55 countries.

Andor’s latest interim results for the six months to March of this year show it grew its revenue by 42 per cent to £28.3 million on the back of 33 per cent organic growth and a 9 per cent contribution from acquisitions.