Marks & Spencer delivered a hammer blow to the Northern Ireland textile industry today, forcing a leading supplier to close down and make its last 300 workers redundant.
Desmond & Sons, a clothing sole supplier to Marks & Spencer based at Drumahoe, Co Derry, said it was going into voluntary liquidation after losing its contract with the high street chain.
M&S announced it had decided to stop working with the company as a UK-based full service provider and was going to source its clothing from lower cost suppliers abroad.
But at the same time as the bad news, BT announced it was creating almost 200 jobs in Enniskillen and another 60 have been created with the expansion of a small business enterprise park in Co Antrim.
The M&S decision - announced on the day billionaire retailer Mr Philip Green fired the first shots in a takeover bid - was the result of the company's attempts to cut costs.
The 120-year old family run Desmonds textile company was once the biggest private manufacturing employer in Northern Ireland with 3,500 workers at 10 textile factories.
On the jobs plus side in Northern Ireland BT said it expanding one of its call centres in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh creating 194 jobs in a next generation e-customer services centre.
The Enniskillen centre is one of 33 run by BT designated as "Next Generation Contact Centres", but which will now also become one of a small number of sites handling BT's e-customer service business.
It will handle inquiries coming through the BT.com website and communications with customers via e-mail.
Meanwhile 60 jobs were created with the opening today of a £1.14 million extension of a small business enterprise park at Mallusk, Co Antrim which now houses 44 businesses and 200 employees.