Northern Ireland is strong in a range of sectors, from aerospace to cyber security and precision medicine.
Northern Ireland has expertise across a range of sectors, including digital technologies such as fintech, cyber security and AI; in advanced manufacturing sectors like aerospace and materials handling and across a wide range of professional services.
Advanced manufacturing and engineering
Area of sector expertise
- Aerospace and defence
- Automotive
- Construction
- Materials handling
- Electronics
- Green growth and renewable energy
- Consumer products
- Employment in the Northern Ireland manufacturing sector has in recent years grown more than four times faster than the rest of the UK.
- Manufacturing accounts for 11% of employment and over 15% of GVA, making it a key sector in the Northern Ireland economy.
- The region is home to a range of indigenous and international companies, engaged in the full range of activities from R&D through new product development to manufacturing.
- A strong focus on R&D investment and commitment to product & process and design & development ensure the sector continues to grow and experience success.
Aerospace and defence
Area of sector expertise
- Interiors
- Structures
- Supply chain
- The sector provides revenues of GBP £2bn and employs an estimated 10,000 workers directly
- Northern Ireland has around 50 per cent of the business and first class seating market share
- Every Airbus wing includes components manufactured in Northern Ireland
- SC21 - NI Aerospace has 5 Gold, 8 Silver and 5 Bronze awards, with more Golds than any other UK region
Agri-Tech
Area of sector expertise
- Agri-Machinery
- Agri-Tech
- Animal health
- Renewable energy
- Supply chain
- In 1917, Harry Ferguson patented the technology that led to the modern tractor.
- NI is home to The Institute for Global Security, Queen’s University Belfast – a world leader in food security and traceability.
- Farming is the biggest industry in Northern Ireland with 75% of land used for agriculture.
- Almost 25,000 farm businesses in Northern Ireland support over 48,000 jobs.
Construction
Area of sector expertise
- Construction contractors
- Manufactured construction products
- Construction services
- The Construction Sector represents the third-largest industry sector in Northern Ireland at 14%
- Based in Newry, MJM is one of the largest cruise ship “fit out” companies in the world
- NI has 10,000 firms within the sector of which 215 achieved sales in excess of £5M per annum
Creative technology
Area of sector expertise
- Animation
- Gaming
- EdTech
- Interaction content
- Film & tv production
- Sixteen South has won over 50 international awards including two EMMY® nominations
- Game of Thrones® was largely filmed in Northern Ireland
- The Pixel Mill offers a ground-breaking incubation programme for game development teams
- Post-production house Yellowmoon is decorated with Oscar®, Emmy® and BAFTA® nominations
Financial services
Area of sector expertise
- FinTech
- Asset and wealth management
- Banking and capital markets
- Governance, risk and compliance
- Insurance and assurance
- 40% reduction in typical salary costs compared to London and Dublin (Bond Search & Selection, 2020)
- 40,000 people employed in the Financial & Professional services sector (NI BRES 2019 & Invest NI data)
- 4,150 graduates in business & technology each year (HESA)
- The world’s top region for Financial Services technology inward investment projects (FT fDi Markets, 2021)
Food and drink
Area of sector expertise
- Meat
- Dairy
- Drinks
- Other
- Agri-Food is Northern Ireland's largest manufacturing industry
- World leader in traceability and food security. We created APHIS, an electronic cattle tracing database
- Northern Ireland developed the world-leading Food Fortress - a collaboration between businesses and academia, committed to the highest standards of safety and security in our food chain
- We sell food and drink products to over 70 countries worldwide
Global business services
Area of sector expertise
- Customer experience
- Financial services
- Technical support
- Northern Ireland is one of Europe's most Business Friendly regions of its size
- 20,000 people employed in 40 shared services, contact or knowledge centres
- 5,500+ graduates with a degree in areas including finance, accounting, economics, maths, law & computing
Green economy
Area of sector expertise
- Low carbon energy (including onshore/ offshore wind)
- Energy efficiency
- Energy storage and intelligent energy systems
- Water and waste water
- Low carbon transport
- Data centres
- Waste and resources
- The low carbon sector employs more than 12,000 people in over 300 companies
- Northern Irish companies have the capability of providing a range of innovative products and services to address the specific needs of the various energy, water and transport supply chains
- The industry has an annual turnover in excess of £1.7bn
Life and health sciences
Area of sector expertise
- Precision medicine
- Pharma and biotech
- Clinical trials
- Diagnostics
- Med-tech
- Vibrant cluster of 250+ businesses, international investors and indigenous companies, employing 8500. Exporting globally to over 140 countries
- Geographic advantage with time zone centrally located between major global markets. Dual market access to both the EU single market and GB
- Over 17 world-leading research centres with more than 1000 researchers
- Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University rank among the Top 10 in the UK for bioscience research
Materials handling
Area of sector expertise
- Mining and construction
- Recycling
- Handling equipment and vehicles
- Agri-machinery
- Supply chain
- We manufacture over 40% of the world’s tracked mobile crushing and screening equipment
- The sector employs more than 8,000 people in over 100 companies
- When you buy from Northern Ireland you buy 60 years of leading the world in Mobile Bulk Materials Processing equipment
- Our products operate 24/7 in the most demanding markets and harshest operating environments – in temps ranging from -40 to 50 C
Professional and legal services
Area of sector expertise
- Legal services
- Accounting
- Management consultancy
- Tech for professional services
- 18,000 people employed in the professional and legal services sector (NI BRES 2019)
- 5,100 graduates in professional and legal each year (HESA)
- Belfast has been identified as one of the top 10 global emerging lawtech scenes alongside London, San Francisco, Singapore & Tel Aviv (Law Society England & Wales, 2019)
- PwC and Google’s first European Innovation lab was established in Belfast in 2015 (PwC)
Technology
Area of sector expertise
- Cyber security
- AI and data analytics
- Sports technology
- Telecom, mobile and data networks
- IT services
- GovTech
- Smart cities
- World’s top destination for Financial Services technology investment and the number one international investment location for US cyber security firms (FT fDi Markets 2021)
- Europe's leading FDI destination for new software development (by job creation) (FT fDi Markets 2021)
- Belfast is one of the best cities in the UK to work in tech - and the best place to work as a software developer. 23% of NI jobs advertised last year were digital tech roles, highest % in the UK (TechNation)
- Belfast has been named one of the world's top 15 Digital Economies of the Future and ranked 2nd in UK (9th in Europe) in a poll of Top 25 Tech Cities of the Future (Financial Times fDi Intelligence, 2021)
Tourism
Area of sector expertise
- Visitor attractions
- Cruise ship destination
- 5.3 million people visited in 2019, spending a record-breaking £1 billion
- Overnight visitors from outside the region exceeded three million for the first time in 2019
- 167 cruise ships docked Northern Ireland ports in 2019, compared to 128 in 2018
- In 2019, there was a 9% increase in tourism employee jobs on previous years
Company directories
Our companies are providing products and services to over 100 countries globally. To source a product or service from Northern Ireland, explore our supplier directories below.
Energy and water supply chain directory
Financial and related professional services directory
You may also be interested in
-
Buy from Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland has a global reputation as a trusted business partner. Our companies supply into more than 100 countries around the world. -
Invest in Northern Ireland
The region offers more than just skilled people, competitive costs and great infrastructure; it's a location that delivers altogether more for investors. -
City and growth deals
Over the next few years, Northern Ireland will benefit from a package of investment from four city and growth deals. The combined funding from the Northern Ireland Executive and UK government will total £1.3bn, which will be complemented by private sector and other sources of funding.