On the road with creative industries

Culture Minister, Nelson McCausland, today said that Northern Ireland businesses are firmly in the driving seat when it comes to creativity and innovation.

The Minister was speaking as he visited the Wright Group in Ballymena, the UK’s leading independent supplier of accessible public transport vehicles.

After a tour of the main production and product development areas to learn more about the company’s focus on creativity and innovation, the Minister said: "Wrightbus is a flagship company for Northern Ireland and demonstrates the region’s ability to compete and succeed on the world stage. The company achieves this by a focus on creativity and the generation of new ideas and their successful development into innovative vehicles.

“Good design is at the heart of Wrightbus activities and this creative area shows that the impact and value of the creative industries and creative occupations extend across many different sectors."

The Minister said that creative industries offer significant potential for Northern Ireland and increasingly play a key role in stimulating success in more traditional sectors such as manufacturing and tourism.

He added: "It is encouraging that even during the economic downturn the local creative industries sector has grown from strength to strength, with over 36,000 people in Northern Ireland employed in the creative industries or creative occupations.

"The Northern Ireland Executive is committed to growing a dynamic, innovative economy, and established a Creative Industries Innovation Fund which has provided £3.6million directly to local creative enterprises to develop the skills and capacity to grow the sector and perhaps achieve success similar to Wrightbus.”

Notes to editors:

1. The Minister was given a guided tour of the facility by Group Managing Director, Mark Nodder, co-founder of the family owned company, Dr William Wright OBE and Wrightbus Managing Director Dr Lorraine Rock.
2. The Wright Group is the UK’s leading independent supplier of accessible public transport vehicles. Founded in 1946, and still a family-owned and managed company, the Wright Group pioneered low floor buses in the UK, and has earned a reputation for producing vehicles which are stylish, durable, high quality and packed with innovative features. Earlier this year the company was awarded the contract for the design and build of the new bus for London.
3. Media enquiries should be addressed to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure Press Office Tel 028 9051 5047 or email press.office@dcalni.gov.uk. Out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.