Southern Regional Office

Our Southern Regional Office is located at Drumalane Mill beside the Quays Shopping Centre in Newry. We work with businesses and stakeholders across the Ards and North Down Borough Council, Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council areas.

Together with stakeholders we work in partnership to drive economic development throughout the Southern region, providing a range of support to help our export focused businesses think strategically and achieve greater export sales.

Over the past five years (2020-2021 to 2024-2025), we have offered £76m of support to 972 businesses. This support, alongside the companies' investment commitments, has the potential to generate a £364m investment in the local economy, creating 2,455 jobs.

What we do

We work with local and international businesses across a variety of sectors, including:

Advanced manufacturing & engineering
Food and drink
Construction
Creative technology
Green economy
Life & health sciences
Financial services
Professional and legal services

Council areas covered by the Southern Regional Office

Ards and North Down Borough Council

We have a long-standing relationship with Ards and North Down Borough Council and are an active partner in supporting the delivery of the Council’s Community Plan, working closely to help businesses grow and compete globally.

Within the area of Ards and North Down Borough Council between 2020-2021 and 2024-2025, we offered support of £18m to 229 businesses. This support, combined with company investment, has the potential to generate £85m of investment in the area, and support the creation of 540 jobs.

You can find more detail on the business make-up of the area and our specific support in the Invest Northern Ireland council briefing for Ards and North Down Borough Council area (PDF).

Council-led programmes include:

Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council

We have a long-standing relationship with Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council and are an active partner in supporting the delivery of the Council’s Community Plan, working closely to help businesses grow and compete globally.

Between 2020-2021 and 2024-2025 we offered support of £29m to 332 businesses based in the council area of Lisburn & Castlereagh. This support, combined with company investment, has the potential to generate £132m of investment in the area, and support the creation of 903 jobs.

The Invest Northern Ireland council briefing for Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council (PDF) provides more information on the council area and further support.

Council-led programmes include:

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council

As a Statutory Partner in the Council's Community Plan, we work in partnership with Newry, Mourne and Down District Council to help businesses grow and compete on an international level.

Between 2020-2021 and 2024-2025 we offered support of £28m to 411 businesses based in the council area.

This support, combined with company investment, has the potential to generate £147m of investment in the area, and support the creation of 1,012 jobs.

The Invest Northern Ireland council briefing for the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area (PDF) offers further information on the area and our specific support.

Council-led programmes include:

Southern Regional Manager

John McKibben is the Southern Regional Manager. He has been with Invest NI for 10 years – working with businesses in the ICT sector prior to joining the Regional Business Group, where he worked with stakeholders and managed a portfolio of growing companies across a range of sectors before becoming Southern Regional Manager.

Southern Regional Office