9 minute read
Manufacturing – NI’s Success Story
According to Invest NI, employment in the Northern Ireland manufacturing sector has grown more than four times faster than the rest of the UK accounting for 11% of employment and over 15% of GVA. Here Emma Deighan talks growth, plans and ambition with key players in the industry.
Northern Ireland is home to a range of indigenous and international companies, engaged in the full range of activities from R&D through new product development to manufacturing.
Further research from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) shows that the sector is continually thriving, even with the challenges of Brexit and COVID.
NISRA’s Index of Production (IOP) provides information on the output of the production industries, manufacturing industries and market trends.
It revealed an increase of 3.6% in 2021, and when the most recent four quarters are compared to the previous four quarters, the NI production sector increased by 8.1%, while the UK production sector increased by 4.2%.
From aerospace to construction and
Jeremy Eakin, Armstrong Medical Harland & Wolff
automotive our manufacturing talents span a broad field that have garnered a strong reputation for NI’s skillset.
In the medical sphere, NI firms like Randox have become a household name thanks to its role in the COVID-19 testing market (it launched 23 Randox testing clinics, more than 200 partnered testing clinics and 80 plus drop box collection points for home testing). Meanwhile, Armstrong Medical reinforced its strength by expanding its product portfolio and merging with Comber-based Eakin Medical. Jeremy Eakin says Eakin Healthcare Group’s acquisition of Armstrong Medical was a rapid transaction, a swift 10-week process. He said the brawn of both firms alongside Eakin’s investment plans will “take Armstrong Medical to the next level and help it take advantage of new
Jim Downey, Hyster Yale
and exciting opportunities in the human healthcare market”.
The company has been actively growing since it was founded in 1974 by Jeremy’s father, Tom, a pharmacist, but the past 18 months has presented the firm with challenge and opportunity in equal measure.
Jeremy says keeping Armstrong Medical in NI is a good news story for the manufacturing world. He added: “When a family business sells, the obvious move is to sell to a bigger competitor but this transaction has been unique. I think it presents a fantastic opportunity for growth and we can build on the foundations.”
In the mobile crushing and screening domain, NI manufactures over 40% of the world’s equipment. At the heart of that industry is Cookstown-headquartered CDE.
This company has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years. CEO Marc Jennings says the drive to a sustainable economy is at the heart of that incline.
“We’re finding that larger businesses are now willing to invest in sustainable technologies and we know that’s the future,” he said.
“It’s a huge opportunity and that aligns perfectly with what we’ve been doing. We’ve seen huge transformational projects, it’s exciting times in CDE here.”
Indeed, the sustainability agenda is a priority at the business and it’s well prepared for the revolution that is imminent. Marc says the world is mining sand at an unsustainable rate and the company’s new equipment will help lower mining of what is the single most mined commodity. “When a family business sells, the obvious move is to sell to a bigger competitor but this transaction has been unique. I think it presents a fantastic opportunity for growth and we can build on the foundations.”
Jeremy Eakin, Armstrong Medical
Testament to this is one of its most recent transactions with SOMEVAM, a subsidiary of the Tunisian Sebri Group. It recently made significant investment in the development of its second CDE wet processing solution for the production of high-specification silica sand products.
“We’re always striving to be number one in the world. We offer a premium product and direct to end user service and we have a premium supply chain so our customers are assured they’re buying the best.”
Lift truck manufacturer Hyster Yale is also enjoying a boost in demand. Reflecting that growth was the opening of its £5m 60,000 sq ft facility at its plant in Craigavon and the recruitment of new engineers and other roles.
Jim Downey, Plant Manager at Hyster Yale said: “We have seen significant growth in bookings volumes. Our orders haven’t dropped the way people would think they would after a pandemic; in fact they’re growing quicker than we even expected.”
He says the market is expanding. The uplift in online retail is prompting a rise in warehousing and in turn a rise in forklift orders.
The business is also investing in the circular economy with a newer greener
John Mathers, Barclays
model of forklift that will inevitably become the norm in warehouses around the world in coming years.
“Our Craigavon plant does a range of those products and we still build an IC product, but the focus now is towards a class one electric product,” Jim divulged.
Hyster was the first to offer a commercially available, certifiably recognised lithium-ion battery pack in the lift truck industry and now it’s helping drivers comply with emissions regulations and sustainability initiatives via its hydrogen fuel cell technology.
Coca-Cola has also been pumping funds into its sustainable efforts, with many of its investments representing world firsts.
In total, Coca-Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland has reduced plastic use by almost 5,000 tonnes a year since 2019 and together, with its partner Coca-Cola Ireland, its next ambition is to achieve a World Without Waste by 2030, creating a true circular economy for plastic packaging.
Communications Director Tom Burke, said: “It’s a core part of our strategy for growth and we’re hugely cognisant of the role we have to play in carbon reduction here and in the wider community.”
The company is also planning to recycle every single Coca-Cola bottle sold through an intensive collection scheme yet to be unveiled. It’s a revolutionary idea that will mark the beginning of mass recycling of bottle use.
“There will be significant costs in making that happen, but it will be a good investment,” added Tom.
Enniskillen-based Balcas is probably one of NI’s best circular economy manufacturers. The major sawmill and carbon neutral energy provider sells timber to merchants in NI, the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain.
The company’s macro green story and initiatives are far reaching. CEO Brian Murphy said:
“Balcas is a true example of a manufacturing contributor to the circular economy. Every log it uses originates from a sustainably managed forest. The forests throughout Britain and Ireland not only capture carbon but sustain rural jobs and provide leisure and social outlets for our citizens.”
“What we’re trying to do now is help others do the same,” he said.
A city grandmaster in the manufacturing world, H&W is expanding its service portfolio to include hydrogen storage for our future energy needs. John Wood, CEO of owners Infrastrata, told Ambition recently he acquired the famous dock firm as it had potential to encompass five different markets across six different services.
Philip McBride, Thales
Philip McBride, Thales
“The problem with shipyard businesses is that yards often just stick to one thing, suffering volatility when it occurs in the market; however, by spreading across different markets and services, we are building sustainability and resilience,” he explained.
In October 2021, the company was granted a marine construction licence for the gas storage Islandmagee project, paving the way for the development of seven large caverns below Larne Lough.
Probably one of NI’s more modest manufacturing success stories is Thales Group – the global aerospace and defence manufacturer.
The Belfast-based element of Thales Group has an order book which averaged around £200m annually over the last number of years. It’s an impressive figure for a business that is low on the radar here.
Philip McBride, Managing Director, said the Belfast firm has also seen an influx of contracts in the past few years, most of which are won through a competitive tender process. One of those contracts was a defence deal with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) where the capability is being delivered to and used by both the British Army and the Royal Navy. It will now export the same missile technology to its other clients further afield.
“We plan to significantly grow our business here,” Philip said. “In the last five years we have more than doubled our revenues and radically grown our order intake which is impressive for a business that most people in Northern Ireland don’t know about or know what we do.
“We are successful, we really support the local economy and supply chain and more importantly we offer long term employment security in a time when many businesses are finding it very difficult.”
The latter stories are just a fraction of the success in NI’s manufacturing sector and 2022 promises more of the same.
Recent research from Barclays revealed manufacturing exports brought in around £6bn to the Northern Ireland economy last year. What’s more, the plans of manufacturers who don’t currently export to start selling their products overseas could see that total rise to £6.4bn a year by 2030.
Barclays’ report – The Export Dividend – showed that 76% of manufacturing firms with 10 or more employees in Northern Ireland are currently exporting. It also revealed that more than a quarter of exporters here saw ‘significant growth’ in 2021. Meanwhile, manufacturers who export are also more confident about their prospects this year with 88% of exporting businesses upbeat about their growth prospects.
John Mathers, Corporate Development Director, Barclays Corporate Banking Northern Ireland, said: “The UK manufacturing sector, like many others, has endured a tough year… However, exporters, more than most, have weathered the storms and are enjoying strong demand for their products in markets all around the world. Confidence is high and many firms are looking to exports to fulfil their growth ambitions this year and beyond.”
Tom Burke, Coca Cola HBC
Tom Burke, Coca Cola HBC
