Irish Dog Foods learns new market research tricks to target export growth

 Irish Dog Foods learns new market research tricks to target export growth

When Irish Dog Foods needed to learn more about the relationship between man and his best friend, their first port of call was the Enterprise Ireland Market Research Centre.

The award-winning manufacturer has worked with Enterprise Ireland to develop innovative new product ranges for export during a relationship spanning more than 10 years – but the partnership has stepped up a level in the last two years.

Marketing Manager, Darren Keating explains: “Irish Dog Foods has used the Market Research Centre for every new market we’ve entered in the past two years – Portugal, Germany, Korea and Spain.

Excellent access to information

“The access to information they provide you with is excellent. They give you the tools and facilities to be better prepared when you move into new markets. As a company, you learn and benefit from the process of working with the Market Research Centre.

“We might be having a conversation internally about whether to put some effort into Poland or Denmark. At that point, we have some key questions to ask, such as what is the size of the market, who are the big players, is it dominated by retailers, is it dominated by pet stores, is it dominated by brands, or by private labels?

“One of the best avenues we would use to answer these questions would be the reports which are available at the Market Research Centre. They can give us access to data by company, sector, market and general country information. We still have to clean the data, but we wouldn’t be able to do it as professionally, quickly or as comprehensively without the facilities that the Market Research Centre provides.”

Knowledge it takes to break new markets

After more than 25 years in business and with around 50 exports markets globally, Naas-based Irish Dog Foods is one of the most recognisable names in pet food retail across the globe. However, this old dog is always keen to learn new tricks when it comes to breaking in to new international markets.

Darren explains: “When we launched in South Korea this year it was the result of 26 months of planning and preparation.

One of the things we learned during our market research is that almost all the dogs are small – there are practically no large dogs in Korea because it’s mostly large population centres with apartment living. That meant we specifically targeted the owners of small dogs.

“We also learned that the average spend on pet food was very high in Korea, so we were able to target our very high-quality foods at the buyers and retailers. That information came from reports provided by the Market Research Centre. It meant that when we were making our pitches, we were knowledgeable, we were experienced, we knew what we were doing, and it was impressive in terms of the buyer listening to us.

“The impression the buyers got was, ‘these guys know what they’re doing. They’re not just throwing everything on the table, they have an understanding of what will work in my market. It wasn’t the reason why we got the business, but it was a big help and it did make our pitches more professional.”

New markets can be big revenue drivers

The new markets Irish Dog Foods has moved into recently are expected to become significant revenue drivers over the next five years, and the company plans to continue its work with the Market Research Centre.

Darren says: “Recently, we started thinking about targeting the Polish market. We want to know things like, what’s the percentage of dog-owning households, what’s the dog population, what is a consumption of dog food – and what about dry food versus wet food? We can get that information in reports from the Market Research Centre and it helps us really get into the detail of the dog food category in Poland.

“We can also use them for lead generation. Who are the top 20 retailers in Poland? Can I get a database of all the pet distributors in Poland? If we get 200 leads and there are 50 targetable leads after cleaning, then that’s a good start.”

“The Market Research Centre doesn’t do our work for us, but it does provide the material
for us to do our work – and that makes the process much easier.”

Learn more about Enterprise Ireland’s Market Diversification supports here.

 

Irish Innovation arab health Middle East

Irish Innovation in robust health in Middle East

Clare Roche, Market Advisor for Middle East & North Africa at Enterprise Ireland, describes the enormous opportunity for Irish exporters in the MENA region.

If you look past the headlines about fluctuating oil prices and political instability that tend to dominate global coverage of the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region, you will find a growing healthcare sector in which spending is expected to reach $150 billion by 2020, according to Deloitte.

In January, 20 Irish companies participated at Arab Health, the largest healthcare exhibition and conference in the region, and the second largest such event in the world. Arab Health has become a strategically important event that enables established companies in the region to build on their existing market presence and gives new companies and high-potential start-ups a holistic overview of the market environment and opportunities, as well as providing access to key players and potential partners.

Middle East healthcare challenges and opportunities

The MENA region faces a variety of healthcare challenges, including the provision of sufficient hospital and primary care facilities to its growing population, and the prevalence of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular conditions. Governments in the region are injecting large funds, while encouraging collaboration with companies in the private sector, to build new hospitals and clinics and update existing infrastructure. There are currently almost 350 hospital projects under development in the region, of which nearly 70 projects are worth more than $100 million each. (Source: Alpen Capital)

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and wider MENA region offer a dynamic market in which demand for new solutions complements the innovative products and services of Irish companies. The continued expansion of the healthcare sector in the Middle East in particular offers a number of exciting opportunities for Irish companies. Ireland is recognised as a Centre of Excellence for world-class innovation and Irish companies already have a strong track record across the Middle East, particularly in sub-sectors such as medical devices, health IT, and diagnostics.

With a predominately import-based medical device market, there is a strong preference for European-made products and technology. As the only English-speaking member still committed to the EU, more and more Middle East-based healthcare organisations are turning to Ireland as a trusted source of innovative medical solutions. There is also a strong appetite for new and disruptive technologies, particularly in areas such as Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. Ireland is regarded across the region as a world leader in development in these fields. 

Among the success stories at this year’s Arab Health event were Aerogen, who opened their first Middle East commercial office in Dubai. Aerogen is seeing growing demand in many markets but has seen outstanding growth across the entire Gulf region. John Power, Aerogen CEO and Founder, comments, “There’s a really great opportunity for us in the Middle East. It is an extremely important market for Aerogen and we look forward to strengthening our commitment here over the coming years.” Irish skincare company Ovelle Pharmaceuticals also officially launched their range of products in Life Pharmacy, the UAE’s largest pharmacy chain with 130+ outlets across the country.                            

Irish companies interested in pursuing opportunities should be aware that the region’s healthcare environment is highly competitive. The time frame and commitment required to secure a first contract or establish a market presence can be extensive. Preparation, patience and perseverance are key to success. Relationships are important and ‘wasta’ (an Arabic word meaning connections or influence) can go a long way, with a trusted and local partner often essential to doing business.  

Traditionally, focus for Irish companies entering the market has centred on the UAE and Saudi Arabia. However, we are also seeing growing opportunities for Irish companies in lesser developed markets, such as Oman, Jordan and Kuwait. With a rapidly developing economy, Oman has a number of high-profile hospital projects in the pipeline valued at over $3.2 billion. Enterprise Ireland is also increasing activity in Egypt, the second largest economy in the Arab world, with a population of 95 million and a strong demand for life sciences and pharmaceutical technologies.

Clare Roche is Market Advisor for Middle East & North Africa at Enterprise Ireland.

This article was originally published in the Sunday Independent.

Channel sales

Channelling Success with Channel Strategy

Máire P. Walsh, SVP Digital Technologies at Enterprise Ireland’s Silicon Valley office, explains how an effective channel sales strategy can give Irish companies a wide international reach.

The business plans of start-up companies often focus on direct sales, aiming to sell as many products and solutions to as many consumers and end users as possible. The right channel sales strategy can, however, give Irish companies of all sizes and stages of maturity a wider reach, helping them to grow more quickly than a business plan that relies on direct sales alone. A successful channel strategy enables Irish exporters with unique technologies to harness sales opportunities at scale, driving business results in the US market and beyond.

Enterprise Ireland recently held a Sales and Channel Strategy Seminar in Dublin, which featured US industry thought leaders and senior executives, and was designed to advise and guide high performing Irish start-ups to expand into the US through the channel ecosystem. World-class experts on sales planning and channel strategy shared tips and success stories, while the event showcased a number of Irish companies that are already capitalising on the potential of the channel ecosystem to drive rapid growth.

Irish companies can apply insights shared by the event’s global speakers to use a smart channel sales strategy to quickly grow their business.

A “Best Practices in Channel” panel featured Kevin Morata, Global Channel Strategy at Dell EMC, Gerard Sheridan, Global OEM Sales Director at DataStax, and Kurt Hoppe, Global Head of Innovation at GM. The panel discussed how true collaboration is key to building successful relationships with channel partners. Companies should be aware that not all channel partners are created equal. With 20% of partners driving 80% of sales, Irish companies should allocate more time and resources to partners that will help to maximize business results. One tip for building trust is to feed leads to new channel partners at the beginning. That will allow them to gain experience in selling your product while developing a strong understanding of your value proposition.

Tiffany Wagner, Global Head of Sales Planning at SAP, described how a successful strategy must focus on your value proposition, rather than on the features and functions of your solution. At SAP, design thinking is key to well-orchestrated enterprise sales planning programs. All enterprise sales require a “3 x 3” influence model – three decision makers and three influencers must contribute to the process.

Insights were shared by Irish companies, including AltoCloud, Channel Mechanics and PlanNet21 Communications, that have scaled by partnering with the channel ecosystem. Kenneth Fox, Channel Mechanics CEO, described the three points of the channel triangle:  vendors, distributors and partners. The Channel Mechanics solution sits at the centre of the triangle, providing automation that runs the entire ecosystem.

Barry O’Sullivan, AltoCloud CEO, described how his company was formed with the channel in mind. Leveraging the business and personal relationships of partners has allowed AltoCloud to build a strong partner channel. One tip for Irish exporters is to have a ‘corporate vendor resources’ presence in the US and not attempt to drive it from Ireland.

When launching as an ambitious company almost 20 years ago, PlanNet21 Communications convinced partners to accept them into their channel program. The strategy has delivered revenues close to €50m, with the company on a mission to hit €100m within the next two years. Denise Tormey, co-founder of PlanNet21 Communications, described the strategy that drove their success, “Trust is hard won. We manage communication face-to-face, over the phone and by mail, to build those interpersonal relationships. We listen. We respond in a timely manner. We ask ‘Why?’ We care. We are true partners.”

The insight echoed the guidance of many of the day’s Irish and US speakers. A foundation of trust must be established to build effective relationships. Otherwise channel partner alliances are destined to fall flat and fail to deliver the growth promised. For channel strategy support, contact Enterprise Ireland’s Strategic Marketing Review program, which acts as a mechanism to review and develop your market development strategy overseas.

This article was originally published in the Sunday Independent.

Smart sourcing fintech talent

Smart sourcing pays dividends for fintech talent

Irish companies must be flexible and innovative, in order to make the most of the talent pool here, delegates heard at Ireland: A Fintech Factory, an event hosted by Enterprise Ireland as part of MoneyConf 2018.

“In terms of accessing talent, we as recruiters need to start looking at moving away from demographics and the traditional boxes we put people in, and start looking at them in terms of values,” said Karl Aherne, director of strategic business development at Fexco.

“It’s about understanding your company’s values and then finding the right people based on values for those roles, irrespective of age or gender.”

A great country for homegrown and international talent

Not alone has Ireland got great homegrown talent, “it’s a great country to attract talent to as well,” said Paul Smith, co founder of Top Tier Recruitment, an agency that specialises in fintech and financial services recruitment.

As a recruiter, the uncertainty around Brexit is an opportunity to secure specialist skills from EU workers unsure about their future in the UK, he said.

Don O’Leary, head of EU operations and Ireland country lead at payments company Stripe, has been hiring significantly recently. “The talent has been extremely strong and, as a company that is trying to attract talent from all over Europe, it has been fantastic,” he said.

Untapped talent pools

And there are still large pools of talent as yet untapped, according to Vanessa Tierney, co-founder of Abodoo, a new career platform that connects employer with ‘smart workers’ – agile knowledge workers who want the flexibility to work from home, from local co-working hubs or on a hybrid model basis.

“Since launch, we’ve had thousands of really talented people register with us because people want choice. They don’t want to be commuting every day. There are a lot of skilled unemployed people out there – globally there are 200 million skilled professionals estimated to be not currently working,” she said.

Any start-up or scaling business has to make a strategic decision about how they recruit. Don O’Leary of Stripe said, “When you are looking at building an organisation of 200 to 300 people you can go in two directions. You can get people in on the ground by hiring a team of junior people and starting off the operations that you want to start. Or you can go for senior people who have the experience and the willingness to roll up their sleeves and get the job done themselves.”

If possible, go the latter route. “These people can do the initial work but can actually span as the organisation grows and have that strategic leadership and direction. They’re difficult to find but if you can find that type of hire early on in your organisation then you’ll really get control of the growth of your organisation as you scale out,” said O’Leary.

Stripe was able to do that successfully in Dublin, not despite the competing presence of Google, Twitter and Microsoft et al, but because of it, he said. “There was that 10 or 20 years of experience of building up these teams. There was that management bench strength that we were able to tap into, of people who wanted to come and join a small start-up at the time. That was a huge advantage for us starting out.”

Ireland’s key fintech strengths

It’s one of Ireland’s key strengths for fintech start-ups. “When you start looking at those initial contributor-type roles, Ireland still has that ability to attract talent. It still has that brand awareness across Europe as being a tech hub. And then for us, as a financial services company, we were able to tap into the bench strength of the financial services sector. Initially we were looking at more technical-type roles but as soon as we started building out the functions into risk and compliance we were able to tap into a wealth of experienced individuals that were already in the country.”

Locating in a rural area can help attract people who are looking for a different pace of life outside work, said Karl Aherne of Fexco, which employs 1000 people in Killorglin, Co. Kerry.

Ireland’s diaspora can also be better leveraged. “We have a massive pool of expats out there around the world, who are really looking for the right opportunity to come back to work,” said Paul Smith of Top Tier Recruitment.

Supporting smart working

Smart working can help, and Ireland has over 200 privately and publically owned co-working spaces, pointed out Vanessa Tierney of Abodoo. She estimates that many of those who left the country in the past five or six years would return home “if we could offer them careers, maybe in rural Ireland.”

A number of skilled parents and people with disabilities would like to work too, if they could do so in a flexible manner.  “We also have an aging population, many of whom don’t want to stop work completely when they get to 65, so the opportunity is huge.”

The biggest challenge is often one of company “mindset” – a reluctance to trust that the worker will work, and a perhaps outdated attachment to having an office. The traditional view is that the office is a requirement to ensure a company’s culture is maintained.

Not so, said Tierney, pointing out how successfully Canadian ecommerce enabler Shopify is employing hundreds of workers along Ireland’s western seaboard, without an office, as well as Apple’s rolling out of remote working teams.

This enables them to tap into “an unlimited talent pipeline”, she said. “I really think Ireland could become the smart working economy of the world. We could really set the pace globally.”

The Enterprise Ireland event was attended by more than 100 representatives from the venture capital and international financial services sectors in Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the US.

 

Liked this article? Read more about Talent Management in our Exporter Stories

Setting up shop stateside: How to establish a US business entity

If you are an Irish company setting up in the United States, taking time to organise operations properly is essential.

Going Global USA: Learn your Legals is a concise and yet comprehensive guide to the most important elements you should consider, covering how to manage taxation, visas and immigration, and trade and customs. In this deep dive, learn how best to approach establishing a US business entity.

How to establish a US business entity

Setting up in the US without adequate research and planning exposes your company to the risks of litigation and state and federal taxation penalties.

To qualify to do business in the United States, you must, at the very least, have a registered branch office in the country. Choosing the branch office option can, however, make the parent company in Ireland a more visible target for lawsuits and legal claims, and liable for US federal, state, and local income taxes.

Form a distinct US legal entity

It is more prudent, and in the long run more cost-effective, to form a distinct US legal entity, be it either a US business corporation, known as a C-Corp, or a US limited liability company (LLC).

A C-Corp is similar in structure to an Irish limited company and is usually a better option than an LLC for overseas businesses. While there are tax advantages to forming an LLC, they apply to individual shareholders rather than shareholding parent companies. As C-Corp shareholders are perceived to be more ‘separate’ from the everyday activities of the company, C-Corp owners tend to be less exposed to litigation, and to have more limited liability.

Remember, however, that C-Corp profits can be taxed twice, under the US ‘double taxation’ system.  Firstly, at federal and at state level, a C-Corp is assessed for corporate income tax on profits. Then, if the company chooses to distribute earnings, shareholders will pay capital gains tax on dividend income.

On the plus side, C-Corps are familiar entities to both customers and institutional investors, are scalable, and can be made public. And as most early stage companies reinvest profits to fund growth, when dividends are not issued, double taxation is not a major concern.

US location, location, location

Wherever you plan to do business in the United States, it is probably best to set up in the State of Delaware, where legislature deservedly enjoys a reputation for having America’s most business-friendly laws.

Delaware is one of only five US states with a separate non-jury Court of Chancery, with judges focused solely on business law. The Chancery Court is also unlikely to interfere in arrangements where signed corporate agreements are already in place.

Unlike in other states, shareholders and directors of Delaware-registered corporations do not have to be Delaware residents. In addition, Delaware corporate law applies to Delaware corporations no matter where they actually operate, or where their physical headquarters are located.

Delaware also offers favourable taxation laws. The state does not tax royalty payments and non-residents are not liable for personal income tax, including capital gains tax on dividend income.

While it may cost less to register a business in other states, potential short-term savings should be off-set against the long-term legal certainties that the Delaware legislature provides.

As easy as ABC Delaware: How to form a C-Corp or LLC

There are four steps to forming a C-Corp or an LLC in Delaware.

  • Firstly, check online that your preferred choice is available and decide on a business name for your corporation or LLC.
  • Secondly, appoint a registered agent to receive service of process and other correspondence on behalf of your company. If you have a Delaware address (which must be more than a PO box number), you can do it yourself. Otherwise, you can appoint an attorney or an accountant as a registered agent, or you can use a registered agent service company, which will charge you as little as $50 for their services.
  • Thirdly, file a Delaware Certificate of Corporation that includes the name of the corporation, the name and address of its registered agent, the purpose of the corporation, and the total number of shares that the corporation is authorised to issue. The fee for filing this documentation is $89 (at time of writing), if all your information is contained on one page. Otherwise, an extra $9 is charged for each additional page.
  • Lastly, you must remain ‘in good standing’, which requires you to file an annual report and pay a franchise tax. That part is crucial. If a Delaware corporation loses its good standing, it loses its limited liability shield, and the corporation’s creditors can make claims on shareholders’ personal assets.

Franchise tax is not based on income. It is based on overall share value and is assessed using two methods: the authorised share capital method and assumed par value capital method.

It is important to take professional advice to avoid paying more franchise tax than is necessary. If you authorise a large number of shares but only issue a small portion of them, or if the shares have no par value, you could end up with a franchise tax bill for tens of thousands of dollars. A corporation with 5,000 or fewer authorised shares, will pay at least the minimum franchise tax fee of $175 annually.

Foreign qualifications

If your US company is conducting business in any state other than the state in which it is incorporated (for example, outside Delaware), it will most likely also need to register in each additional state, in a process known as ‘foreign qualification’.

As the rules for foreign qualification vary from state to state, consult with a business lawyer or, at the very least, conduct some research on the state’s Department of State website. Foreign qualification involves additional paperwork and expense. A Delaware corporation applying to do business in New York will spend at least $334 to obtain all required certification.

Note that, whether you file a foreign qualification or not, a company deemed to be doing business in a particular state will be subject to state income taxes in that state. However, there are states, such as Texas, where generous tax-free allowances mean that most small businesses pay little or no state income tax.

Talk to your Enterprise Ireland advisor to get advice on setting up your company’s presence in the United States or read more in Going Global USA: Learn your Legals

From Wexford to the world – Sonru goes global

You know your product has arrived when its name becomes a verb. Just ask Hoover. To physicists at CERN, the prestigious European research organisation, Wexford video recruitment tool Sonru “is almost a recognised verb in the CERN in-house vocabulary.”

It’s just one of a number of testimonials captured on Sonru’s website from big name clients around the world. All are fans of its pioneering online interviewing tool, developed to streamline the selection and recruitment process.

The business arose in the mid noughties when founder Ed Hendrick saw his fellow university graduates travel extensively for job interviews. “I just though there had to be a better way,” he said. Online video tools such as YouTube and Skype were then taking off, sparking an idea for an innovative solution.

Sonru enables recruiters to replicate a live interview online, dismissing the need for early-stage phone, Skype or face-to-face interviews. It uses questions preselected by the employer and answers given by the candidate at a time that suits them. The result is recorded on video and stored for reviewing.

Because interviewers and candidates are not online at the same time, it does away with scheduling and time-zone constraints. It also eradicates no-shows and screens out unsuitable candidates, saving time and money.

Hendrick started the business in an office at Enniscorthy Enterprise and Technology Centre before being accepted on a South East Enterprise Programme, a one-year incubation programme for entrepreneurs.

There he met fellow entrepreneur Chris Horan, who helped him to design the product, and became Sonru’s chief technology officer.

In February 2008, they launched a beta version to the market for free in order to get feedback. By 2009, Sonru had landed its first paying customer, Eircom, and revenues grew.

A UK office opened in 2010, with sales built mainly via trade shows. Operations in Singapore and Australia followed.

“The idea was always to sell worldwide and be a global company. I didn’t want to develop a product that would be restricted to one market,” said Hendrick.

Expansion was funded with the help of private investors and support from Enterprise Ireland. Maintaining a strong media profile helped. “We were lucky in that our investors contacted us. They had read about us in the press and were interested,” he said.

“We entered and won a lot of awards in the early days, including from the Small Firms Association and InterTradeIreland. It is a good way to get your name out there, giving you visibility.”

Today Sonru has a string of international accolades under its belt too including Singapore Business Review’s “Human Resource Technology Award” and a Top 100 Cloud Companies in the World nomination from Amazon Web Services.

Client testimonials and case studies from global brands such as Rolls Royce, Nestle and Qatar Airlines remain important however because satisfied clients are key: “Our best sales people are our customers telling their peers about it,” he said. “Only this week we had the Head of Talent Acquisition and Development of Mercedes-Benz UK share his Sonru story at the FIRMday Spring Conference in London. One of his slides had ‘Sonru has been an intervention that has had more of an impact on recruitment than anything I’ve ever seen.’ You can’t buy that sort of impact.”

Sonru is now translated into 19 languages, many of them Asian. It has more than 500 enterprise clients and captures thousands of interviews every day.

The company employs 60 people – and growing. “We are competing in the war for talent ourselves,” said Hendrick, who knows first-hand that the selection process is an important touch point for any brand looking to be seen as an employer of choice.

“We’re very focused on providing a premium candidate experience. It’s important that the candidate gets a great impression of the prospective employer right from the start, including through the choice of tools they use. Sonru enables employers to present the tool as entirely their own branded experience,” he said.  “And we’re very focused on delivering great customer service.”

To learn more about expanding your business internationally visit Markets & Opportunities.

 

 

How investing in growth paid off for SF Engineering

Visit almost any leading food company around the world and you are quite likely to find production line technology supplied by Irish firm SF Engineering.

Since its establishment in 1983, SF Engineering has been responsible for more than €250 million worth of food processing projects in 63 countries across Europe, North and South America, Russia, the Middle East, and Australia.

Central to the company’s success during that time has been its commitment to innovation and unwavering customer focus.

“We started off in the fish industry,” says CEO and founder, Seamus Farrell. “After that, we moved into the red meat sector and the broader food industry. This wasn’t part of a grand plan. It sort of happened accidently.”

It was a natural evolution, however, given the impact the company had already had on the fish sector. “What we did for the fish industry was futuristic,” he says. “At the time, it cost around €25 per tonne to process fish. We reduced that price to €4 per tonne by automating the process. That was our first big kill and set us up for future growth. After that, we moved into the Scottish and Scandinavian fish sectors – that was quite a natural move for us. We have never been export shy.”

Today, SF Engineering designs, manufactures and installs high-quality food production lines. Specific product lines include conveyors, packing solutions, platforms, weighing equipment, fat analysis, quality control, hygiene equipment, lifting and tipping equipment.

“Our process design expertise enables us to deliver highly efficient food production lines that reduce costs, increase capacity and require less maintenance”, says Farrell. “Our food technology experience covers a range of sectors, including meat, poultry, fish, bakery, dairy, fruit and veg, ready meals and pet food. We are experts in the precision engineering of complex engineering systems for the food sector and we provide a trustworthy support service to our clients who operate around the clock throughout the year.”

Expansion into international markets began in earnest in the late 1990s and this saw the company form a number of key strategic alliances with global partners. “We have formed great partnerships with companies, firstly the main one being Ishida, then following on from that CEIA,  Marelec and Eagle”, says Farrell. “They have been very important to us. They allow us to combine our complementary strengths in different areas to supply turnkey solutions to the global food industry.”

These partnerships have been an important source of new business referrals, but the company is active on international markets winning new orders. “You have to keep driving on,” says Farrell. “We have consistently invested in R&D over the years, with support from Enterprise Ireland and others. Back in 2009, when Irish businesses were severely challenged by the recession, we made a decision to invest in growth.”

That decision saw the acquisition of Opal FPS in St Ives, Cambridgeshire. “That helped us to grow our sales in the UK. It has also Brexit-proofed our business.”

Another key decision around that time was the opening of a new base in Prague, where the company’s Global Installation Team is based. The relationship with the Czech Republic dates back to the late 1990s.

“In the late 1990s and early 2000s we found that we were losing people to the building boom,” says Farrell. “That led to us employing a lot of people from the Czech Republic. We found them to be very good stainless steel fabricators. Without those guys we wouldn’t have been able to expand internationally as quickly as we did. The Global Installation Team is in transit, with all the team travelling around the world from project to project.”

Farrell is grateful to Enterprise Ireland and the other bodies which supported the company in its growth and development over the years. “They believed in the company and supported us, and that was very important.”

He believes export success begets further export success. “Having supplied all these blue chip companies around the world gives us the confidence to go out and win more business,” he says.

“We are also very lucky to come from a country with a very strong food industry, which has travelled well globally and has established a reputation for high quality. Our core values are to be as professional and competitive as possible. We are never going to be the cheapest, but we will add the most value and deliver the best and fastest return on investment to our customers. We are large enough to compete around the world but small enough to be flexible when it comes to delivering solutions for customers. We understand that retailers and consumers want more affordable, safer food on supermarket shelves, and they want very good quality. We provide the solutions that enable our customers to meet that demand.”

These core values have seen SF Engineering expand to employ 110 people in Ireland, the UK and Prague, with business growing strongly year on year. “We will have sales of €20 million this year,” Farrell concludes.

Learn how Enterprise Ireland enables companies to access R&D funding with our innovation supports.

How Dublin’s Novaerus helps the world to breathe easier

The soaring heat of 2018 highlighted the value of clean water. In Ireland, it was scarcely a matter of days before blue skies and barbecues were replaced by water shortage warnings and hosepipe bans.

Even in a country in which it rains much of the time, there was little grumbling about these restrictions. We understand the complex effort and investment required to ‘create’ water that is fit for human consumption.

Water grabs headlines. But there is another natural resource, just as important to human health, that until recently has been taken largely for granted – the air that we breathe.

Why the quality of indoor air matters

“It’s only recently that we’ve become aware that the quality of our indoor air is not as good as we thought, and is contributing to poor health and infection,” says Kieran McBrien of Dublin-based Novaerus.

“This problem is compounded by the fact that we humans spend most of our time indoors, where air gets trapped and endlessly recycled,” he says. “Each human being is shedding thousands of skin cells every hour, throwing off billions of micro-organisms every minute, and we’re breathing it – all of it.”

For humans who spend most of their time indoors – especially vulnerable populations like children, the elderly, and the sick – particulate matter and contaminants in indoor air can exacerbate asthma, allergies, and chronic diseases, and directly lead to viral and bacterial infections.

This is the problem Novaerus was founded to address. Operating mainly in the healthcare sector, the company has patented a plasma technology that reduces the airborne pollutants which lead to health problems like infection, allergies, asthma and irritation.

Novaerus manufactures a range of portable devices that can be found in hospitals – operating theatres, ICUs, emergency rooms, patient wards, construction areas – as well as elderly and child care facilities, schools, and emergency response vehicles, anywhere in fact that the quality of air can detract from human health, productivity and wellbeing.

Standing up for air quality

Kieran McBrien, Senior Vice President for International Business Development, has been with Novaerus since its foundation and says that in the early days, the main obstacle the company faced was an unwillingness to accept that anything was wrong with the air quality.

“In hospitals, for example, most hygiene standards still don’t apply to air quality so it’s an easy one to ignore,” he says. “That’s despite a mountain of scientific evidence showing that pathogens can travel for long distances on the air currents that swirl around hospitals and other buildings. As long as the air is moving, so is the bacteria.” These bacteria and viruses can transmit infection via the air or they can fall on to instruments or surfaces to contaminate hands.

“Some markets are more accepting that air quality is an issue,” McBrien says. “We started in the US where we targeted the elderly care sector, and today we have a significant number of installations that are helping to reduce the instance of respiratory illnesses and other airborne issues. We’re also branching out through hygiene programs in schools.”

The firm has also gained traction in Africa, Eastern Europe and particularly Asia – in South Korea, for example, a staggering 80% of all ambulance rescue vehicles now carry Novaerus technology. (Novaerus is also one of only two companies to pass stringent air sterilisation standards set by the South Korean government to enter operating theatres.)

Reaching global distribution

Having started small, Novaerus is now operating in the big time. Sales of the portable devices are expected to grow by 40-50% this year and the company is targeting markets including China, Germany, Japan and India next year and beyond.

Distribution is handled by a global network of partners, mostly in the healthcare sector, who pitch and sell the proprietary technology into hospitals, clinics, ICUs, operating theatres, anywhere there are people whose immune system is compromised – including the staff whose daily attendance is integral to the business operation.

Innovation is the driving force behind this success – “our whole operation revolves around R&D,” says McBrien – and the company has an enviable facility including fully-equipped labs at its HQ in the DCU Innovation Centre, Dublin. (The company also has a US base.)

A decade or so on, however, Novaerus has not forgotten the role played by Enterprise Ireland in its growth. “Enterprise Ireland got involved with us at an early stage and helped us to find distributors in the US, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, most of whom are still with us, says McBrien.

“The effort that Enterprise Ireland puts in to help Irish companies is just fantastic,” he says. “Setting up trade missions, getting small companies onto the big stage, opening doors, where else would you get it?”

McBrien, a native of Belfast with a background in business and languages, is also adamant that being Irish on the global stage is an advantage. “For us, there’s the whole tech side of things where [Ireland] has a very good reputation,” he says. “The Irish are seen as friendly people, very receptive and good to do business with.”

Meditec US hospital supply chain

How Meditec conquered the US hospital supply chain

Breaking into the US market isn’t always easy but with the right supports, infrastructure, attitude, and product, it is achievable.

Alan Sullivan, Managing Director of Meditec Medical, addressed the Enterprise Ireland knowledge event aimed at helping Irish manufacturers to navigate the US supply chain.

His company has enjoyed tremendous success in the US thanks to the Mediflex, a specialised mattress for clinical use, which prevents pressure sores. While the innovative product is now used in hospitals across the region, initial entry was made with the help of a planned introduction from Enterprise Ireland.

“Enterprise Ireland brings US companies to Ireland to showcase what our businesses do. One day we were told that Boston Children’s Hospital were in – the holy grail for suppliers,” he explained.

Opportunity knocks for Meditec Medical

“Dave Walsh, the hospital’s Director of Supply Chain Administration, came into our office and we showed him around. He said there and then: ‘When can you trial this?’

“We went to Boston with the sample and presented, then started talking about the innovative stain-resistant cover, and the traction started to build from there.”

From the start, Alan was keenly aware that opportunity only knocks once, which drove the company’s rigorous preparation ahead of every visit.

“I have one chance and I have to get that right.

“Before going into the US market, there are certain things you need to be ready for. The last thing you want to do is to go into a big seller and for them to ask, ‘do you have X in place?’ and for the answer to be ‘no’, or to have not even considered an answer,” he said.

“We got our product tested in the east coast of America for compliance with fire regulation. Because we were already looking for our FDA approval, we already had those wheels in motion.”

Securing a long-term relationship

There can be several boxes to tick, he explained, and no value in attempting to cut corners. Teaming up with local expertise is often a good idea.

“For the FDA approval, we did a lot by ourselves, but we also got a consultant in the US. Importing into the US is very different to importing into Europe. You have to have an importer on record, essentially a company in the States who will keep your records to be referenced by organisations like the FDA.”

“When it comes to customs clearance, you have to get a partner to ensure everything runs smoothly,” he added, noting that delays early in the process can have a disproportionate impact on long-term relationships.

“It’s important that all of the details are nailed down before it leaves Ireland. Don’t promise the order will be there by Tuesday, only for it to get caught in customs.

While an in-market distributor can offer big benefits in terms of access, contacts and local knowledge, Alan insisted that staying clearly visible in discussions was key to the success of the product’s sell-in.

“The main thing about dealing with a distributor is that you can’t just allow them to take the products on and present them,” he said. “I know my products, how to present them, the engineering that goes into it. It’s very hard to relay this to someone with 2,500 products in their portfolio.”

Nailing the process

This hands-on approach served Alan and Meditec extremely well over the course of their developing relationship with Boston Children’s Hospital.

“We sent the product over by flight and I followed it over myself. I met key people from the hospital and we got a chance to iron everything out. Anything we didn’t have in place, we nearly had in place. We got the trial.”

The process, Alan explained, was not simply a test use period – but also an ongoing opportunity to refine the product to suit the buyer’s needs.

“We already had a heel section and the clinicians wanted a head section too. So, we went home, added that and came back.

“Labelling, visibility, everything – we changed and customised it to get it right.

“The clinical aspect of the product stayed the same, but we adjusted the features.”

This detail-oriented approach was precisely what the hospital stakeholders were looking for and was an important element in the eventual success of the trial.

 “I trained up the people on the ground and put my distributor in the position where they could fix any issues,” he explained.

“If they feel like you’re far away and you’re not going to put in the hard yards, they’ll go for the safe option –  like a US multinational. You need to show them.”

Hanley Energy’s path to powering giants of the internet

Innovative solutions and a partnership approach have been central to the success of Hanley Energy, a global innovator in energy and power management delivery.

Headquartered in Stamullen, Co. Meath, Hanley Energy was set up in 2009 by co-founders Dennis Nordon and Clive Gilmore. The pair started out in a Local Enterprise Office incubation centre and, thanks to decades of experience in designing and delivering turnkey solutions for Europe’s most power-intensive users, they quickly built up a portfolio of domestic clients, including CIÉ, Glanbia, Roadstone and Largo Foods.

“Initially all our work was with indigenous Irish companies, providing energy management solutions, in real time, for companies who wanted to see exactly what their energy usage was,” says Nordon.

While the company still operates across a range of sectors, from food production to pharmaceutical, transport and heavy manufacturing, in 2010 it began developing specialist power management solutions for the country’s burgeoning data centre sector.

Powering data centres – lynch pin of the digital world

Used to house the vast banks of computing power required to store, process and distribute an insatiable amount of data, these data centres are the lynch pin of the digital world and one for which continuous, clean energy supply is mission critical.

Hanley Energy developed a range of bespoke solutions to enable its Tier 1 data centre clients to maximise uptime and minimise operational costs. Because of the secrecy that surrounds data centres, it cannot name these clients but suffice to say, “they are the giants of the internet,” says Nordon.

In 2013, the company opened a new headquarters and manufacturing facility in Stamullen. Within 18 months it had doubled in size. Demand is such that in 2018 a further extension will see it expand its physical footprint by 50%.

Today Hanley Energy employs 57 people and has grown by providing clients with a one stop shop solution for energy products, software and service, from consultancy and advisory, to design, build & maintenance, as well as the complete life cycle management process.

“Essentially, we help our clients to reduce their overall energy costs, ensure 100% up-time and optimise their operational competitiveness,” says Nordon.

But it isn’t just technical know-how that accounts for Hanley Energy’s success. “While innovation is our unique selling proposition, a key driver of our growth is relationships,” he says.

“Our commercial tag line is ‘Trusted Energy Partner’ and that is our ethos. It’s by being a trusted partner that you can really add value for clients. It’s about building relationships and working with clients on a partnership model over the long term.”

It is this partnership approach that has helped them develop its significant overseas business, starting with an invitation from a client located in Ireland to deliver a cutting-edge solution to one of its overseas plants.

They realised we are not some ordinary ‘me too’ vendor and asked us to look into a problem they were having in the United States,” explains Nordon.

“Hanley Energy is not simply a reseller or integrator but a developer of innovative technologies. We’ve been working with big data centres for long enough now that we understand the challenges they face. They are enormous power consumers with a mandate that requires them to keep that power on 24/7 365 days a year. For these clients, an outage simply cannot occur. We are tasked with keeping the power on and we create the solutions to do that,” says Nordon.

“We also provide the metrics that allow granularity as to how much power they are using and where they are using it. When you are using energy at this level, a percentage saving is colossal.”

Leveraging the overseas presence of multinational clients based here has enabled Hanley Energy to establish operations in Germany, Sweden, the US and Australia, with a further office planned for South Africa.

Once Hanley Energy has established a presence in each new market it then seeks out additional opportunities there, which require its skillset and expertise.

Resourcing global expansion

Enterprise Ireland’s overseas offices have been a huge help to us in that, from providing us with initial office space, to making introductions and identifying opportunities,” he says.

Expanding into international markets can put a massive strain on resources. To avoid this Hanley Energy has implemented a Global Competence Centre model as part of its strategic growth plan, based at its Irish headquarters. 

“Our senior management and technical expertise resides in Ireland and all our research & development and new product development operations take place here,” says Nordon.

“Many of our products are IP (intellectual property) protected and have taken years to develop. So when we enter a new market, operating on a Global Competence Centre model allows us to parachute our expert personnel in wherever and whenever they are required, to train up the teams on the ground. This has helped us get up to speed quickly in each new market. It is a very effective way to scale and has been our strategic driver for growth.”

To learn more about expanding your business internationally visit Markets & Opportunities.

Retail tech USA

Irish companies shop innovative tech solutions to US retail sector

Eva Murphy Ryan, market executive for education and technology based in Enterprise Ireland’s New York office, explains how Irish companies are poised to disrupt the fast-moving US retail tech sector.

From the rise of data analysis and personalisation to voice recognition applications, new technologies are continually changing the retail landscape. With brands and retailers feeling an increasing pressure to stay ahead of the competition, the retail technology sector in the US represents a significant and growing opportunity for Irish exporters. The scale of that opportunity is huge, with the US retail industry already estimated to be worth $2.6 trillion. (Source: National Retail Federation)

While the US has long been a hub for digital technology, innovation is now poised to transform the ways in which consumers shop. This month, US retailer Nordstrom acquired two retail tech companies, integrating new tools to further improve customer experience. These acquisitions enable Nordstrom sales associates to communicate with customers outside of the store, offering style advice and personalised product recommendations, while strengthening Nordstrom’s ability to send consumers customised mobile messages.

With US giants such as Nordstrom and Amazon viewing tech integration as the future of retail, we have begun to see Irish companies target growing opportunities in the US. Hannah Webb, Head of Retail Technology for Enterprise Ireland in the USA, comments “Retail technology companies in Ireland understand the challenges that US retailers face. They provide highly advanced platforms and innovative solutions that address issues, such as how to track online to instore purchases, how to manage data analysis, and deliver enhanced customer experiences.” 

Three such companies supported by Enterprise Ireland are VisitorM, Pointy and Voysis.  

Limerick start-up VisitorM bridges the gap between physical and digital customer experiences. Touchscreen stations allow customers to provide feedback on their in-store shopping experience at the point-of-sale. VisitorM’s technology is soon to be used by shoppers in the US under a new deal with established clothing retailer Old Navy.

A second innovative Irish start-up, Pointy, makes it easy for local shops to display their full product range online, enabling them to be found by local consumers on search engines like Google. The solution helps retailers to reach a much wider audience and drive in-store visits. In the US, more than 2,000 retailers across 50 states currently use Pointy, with the company on track for adoption by 1% of all US retailers by the end of 2018.

Irish start-up Voysis helps retailers to respond to Alexa and Amazon’s position in the market. The brand-specific platform that Voysis provides adds voice capabilities to websites and mobile apps, delivering a more conversational experience to consumers, that moves beyond the use of smart speakers. Voysis aimed to replicate the experience of speaking to an in-store associate, allowing their solution to be just as helpful and knowledgeable about the context of what the consumer seeks while shopping. With the prediction that, by 2020, 50% of all searches will be voice searches, solutions like Voysis are shaping the consumer experience now and informing the future of retail. (Source: comScore)

Showcasing Irish innovation and building strong networks with keys buyers are important steps to growing business in the US retail tech sector. With support from Enterprise Ireland, these companies and others from Ireland’s retail tech cluster have the opportunity to present their solutions at major US trade shows, such as NRF Big Show, which attracts 40,000 attendees, and Shoptalk, attracting 8,500 attendees. David Andreasson, Director of Finance and Operations at Voysis, comments, “At Shoptalk, one of the largest retail conferences in the world, brands immediately saw the value of what we provide and the experiences that are brought to life through the Voysis platform.”

With retail evolving rapidly, brands and sellers, from the established to the emerging, will continue to source innovation and technology that will help them compete into the future. As Irish technology companies continue to target the US retail market, they will succeed by promoting strong and highly differentiated value propositions.

This article was originally published in the Sunday Independent.

Key questions to ask at your Spanish and Portuguese Market Advisor meeting

The combined population of Spain and Portugal is more than 10 times that of Ireland, while Iberia’s landmass is 7 times larger than Ireland’s.

If you are considering doing business in Spain or Portugal, your first step should be a call with our dedicated team.

  • What do you need from me to move this forward? Enterprise Ireland works with clients who have the potential to make an impact, by connecting with buyers and finding opportunities in the market. Irish client companies play a great role in this process too. To make the most of your opportunities in the Spanish and Portuguese market, ask your MA what you can do to move the process forward and ensure success.
  • What kind of timeline are we working with? Different markets work on different timelines. Winning business in this market requires dedication over time; developing your relationship with a buyer in Spain or Portugal is as important as any business negotiation. Ask your MA what kind of timeline you should expect when entering this market. That way you can be prepared for the different steps and milestones in the process.
  • What should our buyer persona look like? Knowing who you want to sell to in this market is very important. It is essential to understand the dynamics of your target market. With the help of your MA, decipher what your buyer persona looks like and work to adapt your pitch to that persona. While this can vary within the market (especially in Spain’s autonomous regions), legitimate and specified buyer personas can be useful in identifying who to approach in market first.

Enterprise Ireland is committed to helping Irish firms succeed in global markets and have industry experts on hand, ready to help you access the Spanish market.

Our Market Advisors are always available to support you and provide business expertise and on-the-ground knowledge.

For more, download our Going Global Guide

Enterprise Ireland’s top tips for entering the Spanis and Portuguese markets can be viewed by clicking the graphic below.