The Ballymena headquartered bus builder, Wright Group, has won another £62 million order to supply a further 195 iconic red "Routemaster" buses to Transport for London, the local government organisation responsible for the capital's transport system.
The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, confirmed details of the order win during a one day visit to Northern Ireland to meet the businesses and their staff that will benefit from the new order.
Speaking at the Wright Group’s chassis plant in Antrim Mr Johnson: “I am absolutely delighted to be able to confirm a further order for these superb buses. They are a masterpiece of British engineering and design, and they prove that we are capable of building a bus in the UK with cutting edge technology that simultaneously delivers jobs and growth around the country.”
He said the latest order would sustain 300 jobs at the family owned firm which employs 2,000 people locally.
The London Mayor first awarded the Wright Group a contract to build the bus – often referred to as the Boris Bus – back in 2009 and since then Transport for London (TfL) has purchased more than 800 of the buses.
The latest contract will bring the order book to more than 1,000 buses in total.
According to TfL the bus contract has also helped to create a “productive relationship” with businesses in Northern Ireland.
Last year the organisation spent £93 million with key suppliers like Magherafelt-based Windell and Lisburn-based Boomer Industries whom Mr Johnson also visited today.
During his day in the North the Mayor of London also took the opportunity to remind local people why he believes the time is right for the UK to leave the European Union. He is one of the most prominent Brexit campaigners in Britain.
Mr Johnson believes the UK needs a “different relationship based on free trade and co-operation” with the EU and said the current arrangement was “very constrictive”.
Just 48 hours earlier the British Prime Minister David Cameron had also visited Northern Ireland to highlight why he believes it is "better off" in a reformed EU.
Mr Cameron warned that 50,000 jobs in Northern Ireland could be linked to trade with the EU.
But Mr Johnson has dismissed this view Instead believes there is a “great opportunity for change and improvement”.
“Now is the opportunity to get rid of so much of the bureaucracy and over regulation that’s coming from Brussels.
“For the first time in our lives we can get rid of so much of the bureaucracy and constriction that comes from the EU and do something that would be truly fantastic and striking free trade deals around the world is just the beginning,” he said
