JTI Gallaher, the UK’s last tobacco factory, has announced that it is to close with the loss of all 877 jobs. Staff were told the Ballymena factory is to close permanently by 2017 and were given time off to absorb the news. The firm has manufactured tobacco in Northern Ireland for over 150 years but has been hit by the introduction of the EU tobacco products directive that would necessitate major changes to the factory’s infrastructure.