Timber Processing Facility To Create 20 New Jobs

Up to 20 new jobs are to be created after an application to construct a new timber processing facility in Omagh was granted planning approval

Upwards on £500,000 is set to be invested in the development of the four acre site set in a cul-de-sac at the Gortrush Industrial Estate, which will also act as a HGV maintenance and parking area.

Omagh businessman Michael Doherty of the Doherty Group is behind the venture.

He said the new development would take forward his ambitious plans to expand his log and firewood business into the British market.

“With this new four acre site we are going to be bringing more jobs, because we are expanding our firewood business into kiln dried products,” he said.

“We are going to be drying the timber, using natural resources to do so.”

Mr Doherty’s property company Mourne NTS Ltd took forward the application, which was recommended for approval at a recent meeting of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council Planning Committee.

The 36-year-old businessman, who already employs around 60 people, said he hopes work can begin at the site in the next two to three weeks.

He said he intends for the venture to create jobs for people living in the local area.

Unique within the log industry, the Omagh man owns his own harvesting, timber, firewood and haulage companies. It means he is involved at every step, from harvesting the logs, transporting them in his fleet of lorries to processing the timber.

Logs are sourced from forests across Northern Ireland and Donegal. The Doherty Group are involved with Balcas and Coillte, the Irish state sponsored entity which operates in forests south of the border.

Mr Doherty said his new facility in Omagh will improve the quality and range of products on offer and aid his plans to expand the company.

“Ireland is only so big and we want to get into the UK market,” he said. “With the new facility, we are going to be able to dry the timber products and have more storage so we can hit a bigger market.”

Source: ulsterherald.com