Minister for Employment and Learning Stephen Farry has praised Newry’s MJM Group following an announcement that the firm has secured a 500M euro refurbishment contract for a Scandinavian ferry operator. During a visit to MJM on Thursday the Minister was told of the specialist joinery subcontractor’s plans to expand its workforce this year. Mr Farry said: “The hard work MJM have put in to securing and delivering these recent contracts has positioned them as a major global contractor in the cruise ferry market. This has meant that they have grown their staff from 74 to 118 and have more than trebled their turn over to £30M in just the last three years. They have invested heavily in their workforce development to enable them to take on larger and more complex projects. I particularly point to the company’s use of my department’s Apprenticeships NI Programme which has allowed the delivery of high quality training to ensure that MJM maintains competitive advantage in the current economic climate. Their success clearly demonstrates the ability of Northern Ireland based companies to be competitive in international markets.” Following their new refurbishment contract the group which was established in 1983 plans to take on more staff at both graduate and shop floor level. Current contracts and future growth plans for the company means that they are seeking talents from a range of disciplines for procurement specialists to contracts managers. Mr Farry added: “My Department is ideally place to help this company meet its recruitment needs. We have a team of Employer Contracts Managers (ECMs) based in local areas and with local knowledge who can steer the company every step of the way to get the right people into the right jobs.” MJM managing director Johnathan Guest said: “We are delighted that our strategy of becoming the leading contractor within the cruise ferry market in Europe is paying dividends. Our reputation and capacity for carrying out the highest quality work in very short lead time is a credit to all our employees in MJM.
Newry Democrat
24th January 2012
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