By 
FOLLOWING revelations that Allstate, one of Strabane’s biggest employers, is to surrender the lease to its Orchard Road premises, the company has moved to allay fears over job losses.
The US-based company, which deals in insurance, has been a mainstay of the Strabane business scene for many years. However workers were told on Friday via an online site-wide meeting, of new plans to relinquish the lease at the site, which runs up until May of next year. At that stage, all staff will be expected to continue to work from home, which most staff have already been doing ever since the Covid-19 pandemic. Current staffing levels in the building are estimated at between 20 and 30 people a day.
When contacted this week about the new development a spokesperson for Allstate NI stated, “Allstate NI employees have more choice about where they work and many are choosing to work from home. As a result, we no longer need as much office space and are leaving our Strabane office in mid-2023.”
Cllr Paul Gallagher says the move will provide an opportunity for new business and he also hinted that this may already be on the cards. He also noted that he has been assured by Allstate bosses that there will be no redundancies.
“I have been made aware of Allstate’s decision to make use of the natural break in the lease of its Orchard Road premises in May of next year,” he said. “I have liaised with bosses at the company and local members of staff who have assured me there will be no job losses, which is heartening.
“Having a building of that size lying empty is an opportunity for someone else to move into it and I personally know of someone who is looking into taking up the lease when Allstate departs, although nothing is set in stone as yet. Local Allstate employees keep their jobs and another business moves into their vacant premises and this brings more jobs into the town; that’s a scenario where everybody wins.”