An expanding steel firm has continued to buck the trend with another acquisition which will generate new jobs.

Barrett Steel Group, whose head office is at Dudley Hill, Bradford, has bought the steel stockholding business at Maghaberry, near Lisburn, Northern Ireland, from the Sherling Group for an undisclosed sum. The company will trade as Barrett Steel Ireland within its general steel division which now includes 42 businesses.

The investment in a five-acre site, including a 30,000 sq ft steel processing plant, enables Barrett Steel Ireland to offer a range of steel processing options, including shotblasting and priming along with automatic cutting and drilling to customers’ specifications. It will also house the Irish office of Barrett Steel’s Tubes Division.

Michael Currie, managing director of Barrett Steel Ireland, said: “We are delighted to announce the opening of our latest facility in Ireland. The company has a long, successful history with a strong presence in the community and Barrett Steel is committed to maintaining local ties, supporting employees, customers and the general public.

“At a time when many similar companies in the sector are contracting, Barrett Steel Ltd, with its 42 companies working out of 28 sites across the UK and Ireland, is continuing to invest and is confident of future growth. We have secured five jobs at the site and expect to start recruiting again later this year.”

Barrett Steel made its first acquisition in Northern Ireland in May last year when it bought the business of Austin Trumanns Ireland, securing 18 jobs in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Investment in the Newry site has already brought it back into profit with a projected turnover this year of £14 million.

Growing demand for construction industry customers led Barrett Steel to launch a new operation last month. It established Barrett Constructional Steel business to extend its service to constriction customers across the UK.

Barrett’s bosses have pledged to focus and invest in areas of potential growth in difficult market conditions which halved its pre-tax profits last year to £3.1 million.

During 2012 Barrett, which is the UK’s largest private steel stockholder and dates back to 1866, also expanded its US business after a successful first year of operations. expand its US operations after a successful first year of operations Barrett Steel is sponsoring the Manufacturing Company of the Year prize at this year’s Bradford Means Business awards which will be announced on Saturday.