Portadown - Economy

Economy

Portadown has a manufacturing sector that has grown beyond its roots in linen production to include carpet-weaving, baking and engineering.

There are a number of companies that have been a major part of Portadown's history:

• Irwin's Bakery was established in 1912 by William David Irwin, grandfather of the existing joint managing directors, as a grocery retailer. The town centre bakery at Woodhouse Street was moved to larger premises at Carn in 1994, and the High Street Mall shopping centre now stands in place of the old bakery. Today Irwin's bakery is the largest independent bakery in Northern Ireland.
• Wade (Ireland) Ltd. Wade Ceramics had a substantial plant in Portadown between 1946 and 1989 in Watson Street, Edenderry, adjacent to the Victorian Railway Station which was closed in the 1970s.
• Ulster Carpets Ltd were established in the town in 1938 and was the major employer through most of the 1950s to the 1980s producing woolen Axminster.
• Henry Denny & Sons (NI) Ltd. meat processors were originally established in Obins Street, but moved to Corcrain after being acquired by the Kerry Group in 1982.

Other industries have vanished from the town such as; whisky distilling and brewing, cider making by Grews in Portmore Street, milling of animal feed by Clows and Calvins in Castle Street, iron and brass manufacturing from Portadown Foundry and other smaller firms, ham/bacon curing by McCammons and Sprotts. Several nurseries were established in the town, most notably Samuel McGredy & Son Ltd., and James Walsh Ltd., these too have gone. There were also a number of small industries related to farming and agriculture, like packing and distribution of eggs, butter, poultry and apples. But these firms have been replaced by large scale employers like Moypark, who process chickens on a modern industrial scale and employ around 600 in the town, as well as Almac, a pharmaceutical firm that employs around 1,000.