Lyons hails innovation and resilience of Thales Belfast

Date published: 30 September 2021

Economy Minister Gordon Lyons has commended Thales Belfast on its continuing innovation and resilience throughout the pandemic.

Economy Minister Gordon Lyons (centre) with Philip McBride, Managing Director, and David Gilleece, Operations Director, Thales Belfast.
Economy Minister Gordon Lyons (centre) with Philip McBride, Managing Director, and David Gilleece, Operations Director, Thales Belfast.

The Minister visited the Thales facility at Castlereagh where he received an update on the company’s Belfast and wider UK operations and viewed the business’s Covid safe working practices.

Speaking after the visit, the Minister said:

“Thales has a 60-year heritage in Northern Ireland in leading-edge, high technology engineering, employing around 500 people and sustaining a significant wider local supply chain.

“The company has shown great resilience through what has been a very challenging period, continuing to innovate and push the local engineering sector forward, whilst putting in place safe working practices for company staff.

“The company’s position as a global leader was underlined by its recent success in securing a significant contract from the Ministry of Defence and its impressive presence at the Defence and Security Equipment International Exhibition in London earlier this month.

“I found my visit to be engaging and enlightening, and I wish the company the very best for the future.”

Philip McBride, Managing Director of Thales Belfast, said:

“We were delighted to host Minister Lyons at our facility in Castlereagh, where we showed him our leading edge technology, developed by Thales Belfast and underpinned by our supply chain in Northern Ireland.

“Our ongoing success allows us to continue to provide highly skilled jobs in Northern Ireland and supports the development of the next generation of engineering excellence, and we are incredibly grateful for the continued support of the Northern Ireland Executive and Invest Northern Ireland in that endeavour.”

Notes to editors: 

  1. More information on Thales Belfast is available at: Thales Group website 
  2. The Department may take photographs and videos at announcements and events to publicise its work. Photographs, interviews, videos or other recordings may be issued to media organisations for publicity purposes or used in promotional material, including in publications, newspapers, magazines, other print media, on television, radio and electronic media (including social media and the internet). Photographs and videos will also be stored on the Department’s internal records management system. The Department will keep the photographs and recordings for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which they have been obtained. The Department’s Privacy Policy is available on our website.
  3. Follow us on Twitter @Economy_NI   
  4. For media enquiries contact the Department for the Economy Press Office at pressoffice@economy-ni.gov.uk
  5. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.

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