Bus boss' knighthood great news amid gloom of job losses

Time and again over the years, we have to praise the genius of Wrightbus as Mr Wright’s Ballymena-based company demonstrates its products are in demand across the globe.

As a community, we recall when the then-mayor of London Boris Johnson arrived at the factory to unveil the prototype bus to replace the traditional London Routemaster.

The success of Wrightbus of Ballymena in landing such orders and maintaining jobs at the company were yet further testaments to the unique standard of excellence of the Wright product, and especially Mr Wright’s ability to read the marketplace correctly.

Mr Wright has developed Wrightbus into one of Northern Ireland’s best companies and this knighthood for him is thoroughly deserved for the magnificent contribution he has made particularly to employment in the Ballymena area and the wider North Antrim constituency.

This continuous flow of orders also shows that private enterprise is alive and well and living in Ballymena.

Both myself and the people of Ballymena are justifiably proud of the commercial success of Wrightbus, and of Mr Wright in particular.

At a time when Northern Ireland has been experiencing the gloom of job losses in the local economy, this honour for Wrightbus’ founder is a very welcome boost for the North Antrim constituency in particular given the challenges which our local economy has faced in the past.

Robin Swann, leader of the UUP