The Plaza Group will open its seventh motorway service station on Friday, creating 120 jobs in Co Laois.

The Portlaoise Plaza, which is part of the Supermac's Group, is located off junction 17 on the M7 motorway.

It was originally due to open in May, but was delayed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The new service station in Portlaoise brings the amount of people employed by Supermac's throughout the country to over 4,000.

It joins the Barack Obama Plaza, the Galway Plaza, the Kinnegad Plaza, the Tipperary Town Plaza and the Mallow Plaza as part of The Plaza Group of motorway and national route service stations.

The owner of The Plaza Group, Pat McDonagh, said that there has been a huge amount of excitement over the opening of the new Portlaoise site because it is a significant investment in the locality at a time when the country is experiencing some of its biggest challenges in decades. 

"In these challenging times, the way we operate has changed completely. We have listened to staff, customers and the relevant authorities and we have put in place a plan that allows us to open gradually with the safety of our staff and customers as our main focus," Mr McDonagh said. 

"It is important that we remain positive and we work together to get over these challenges," he added. 

The Supermac's franchise has 116 outlets across the country. 

It also operates the Papa John's pizza brand and SuperSubs.