Construction has started on a state-of-the-art Factory of the Future at Global Point in Newtownabbey led by Queen’s University Belfast, which is key to an exciting future for advanced manufacturing in Northern Ireland.
US Special Envoy to NI for Economic Affairs Joe Kennedy III joined Queen’s University vice-chancellor Professor Sir Ian Greer and Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey Councillor Neil Kelly on a site visit along with key representatives from industry, government and academia, who are driving forward the ambitious project.
They marked a major milestone for the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (AMIC) through a £100m investment, expected to create up to 1,500 jobs across Northern Ireland, contribute £1bn to the economy and train 300 apprentices by 2050.
The Factory of the Future is being delivered in partnership with industry, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council and Ulster University as part of a wider £230m transformational programme of innovation led by Queen’s and supported by the UK Government and Northern Ireland Executive through Belfast Region City Deal. Almost £80m of funding for AMIC has come from the City Deal.
Due to open in 2026, the 10,000m² open access manufacturing and engineering innovation centre with capacity for 150 staff, is being built by Henry Brothers. It’s set to reinvigorate local industrial potential and address the future technology and skills challenges faced by the region’s manufacturing sector.
US Special Envoy to NI for Economic Affairs Joe Kennedy III joined Queen’s University vice-chancellor Professor Sir Ian Greer and Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey Councillor Neil Kelly on a site visit along with key representatives from industry, government and academia, who are driving forward the ambitious project.
They marked a major milestone for the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (AMIC) through a £100m investment, expected to create up to 1,500 jobs across Northern Ireland, contribute £1bn to the economy and train 300 apprentices by 2050.
The Factory of the Future is being delivered in partnership with industry, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council and Ulster University as part of a wider £230m transformational programme of innovation led by Queen’s and supported by the UK Government and Northern Ireland Executive through Belfast Region City Deal. Almost £80m of funding for AMIC has come from the City Deal.
Due to open in 2026, the 10,000m² open access manufacturing and engineering innovation centre with capacity for 150 staff, is being built by Henry Brothers. It’s set to reinvigorate local industrial potential and address the future technology and skills challenges faced by the region’s manufacturing sector.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:04 It is critically important, not just for the innovation
00:07 that this site is going to help incubate and produce,
00:10 but for the long-term economic development
00:12 of this entire region.
00:14 Manufacturing obviously has a long history in Northern
00:16 Ireland.
00:16 This next generation of manufacturing
00:18 is going to power world innovation,
00:20 create solutions to problems that we
00:21 don't know how to solve yet.
00:22 So incredibly exciting for me to be here,
00:24 to see the work that's actually already being done on the site,
00:27 and to know that the future of Northern Ireland
00:29 is connected to its past, but incredibly bright and prosperous
00:32 going forward.
00:34 Today I'm at Global Point to celebrate a major milestone
00:38 development of our work with the Belfast Region City Deal.
00:41 Here at Global Point, we're developing
00:43 a facility, a factory for the future,
00:45 that will make the best use of our skills
00:47 in advanced manufacturing.
00:48 This is going to make a real difference,
00:50 not just to the local economy and the people of this area,
00:53 but to the whole of the Northern Ireland economy also.
00:59 So the important thing about this facility
01:01 is that it brings university, business, and local government
01:03 together.
01:04 We can work in a very positive manner,
01:07 celebrating the success of each other
01:09 and acting in a synergistic way to really drive forward
01:12 this initiative for the economy.
01:13 I think the manufacturing sector in Northern Ireland
01:16 is really excited about what opportunities
01:18 the AMIC Centre, the factory of the future, can bring.
01:23 I think there are many opportunities that
01:24 will be supported by the technology that's available,
01:28 the experience and expertise that's going to be available.
01:31 And I'm absolutely confident that the manufacturing sector
01:35 will be fully involved.
01:36 So this building is going to be equipped with state
01:43 of the art technology, and importantly, world
01:46 leading people and skills.
01:47 So we're going to be working on digital manufacturing,
01:50 automation, novel manufacturing processes,
01:53 looking at how do we bring digitization
01:55 to processes like fabrication, welding, machining.
01:58 We're going to be leading on smart design,
02:00 integrate manufacturing and design
02:02 to bring solutions to market much more rapidly.
02:04 This is going to be a place where
02:06 we can showcase state of the art technologies to companies
02:09 and how it applies to solve their real problems.
02:11 It's also going to be a place where we can de-risk solutions.
02:14 So we can develop factory-like conditions and solutions here
02:18 that can be rapidly deployed into factories
02:20 with minimal risk without disrupting production
02:22 to drive competitiveness to win business for the companies
02:25 we're working with.
02:27 Well, this project aligns with Queen's Net Zero 2040 strategy.
02:31 The Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre
02:34 is a factory of the future, and it
02:36 will provide manufacturing innovation, sustainability,
02:39 energy, and low carbon spaces.
02:43 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:46 (upbeat music)
02:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]