Dungannon leads economic recovery as revenues soar to more than £350m
BY ANTHONY QUINN
DUNGANNON’S top-performing businesses have overcome uncertainty in the economy by boasting a combined revenue in excess of £350million last year, making the local district the most productive industrial centre West of the Bann.
Outside of Belfast, only Lisburn, Craigavon and Newry fared better in terms of business turnover.
Acccordiing to figures released by the Department of Finance, a total of 70 companies in the Dungannon District had a turnover of more than £5m last year.
The district currently has 3,325 successful businesses in sectors ranging from food and agricultural companies, to construction, retail, manufacturing, property and transport.
The resilience of the Dungannon economy is also demonstrated by the fact that the area had the fourth highest number of companies with revenues between £1m and £5m. Last year’s total stood at 225, making it the biggest business centre west of the Bann, beating Derry’s total of 210.
In addition, Dungannon had 1,095 small businesses with a turnover under £50,000, the second highest in Northern Ireland.
However, the figures contain warning signs for parts of the local economy outside the magic circle of food giants such as Moy Park and Dunbia, and engineering companies such as Powerscreen, with a drop by 40 in the number of businesses filing VAT and tax returns from the previous year.
On the shopping front, the picture was more subdued with the biggest declines reported in the business services and retail sectors, which each had 15 and 10 less businesses in existence respectively.
There were also smaller drops in the construction, property, hospitality and transport sectors, which each recorded 5 less companies filing tax returns.
The growth industries in the Dungannon district over the past two years have been manufacturing, motor trades, wholesale, and finance and insurance,
The wholesale sector recorded the biggest boost, with 15 more companies operating in the Dungannon District in the last year.
Almost a third of local businesses belong to the agricultural sector, which was largely unchanged, making it the largest sector in the Dungannon District, followed by construction and then manufacturing.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Dungannon
Thursday 20 June 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 12 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: West
