Tips for Success in Germany

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Caroline Kelly, sales director at Burnside Autocyl, shares her top pieces of advice for Irish companies keen to tap into the German market.

• Be confident about your product or service before going into the market. We have always been focused on the parameters of our product offering – we make hydraulic cylinders with a bore diameter of 32mm up to 200mm and up to eight metres in length. We offer a wide range of products, but it is still finite at the same time. Get feedback from market experts and existing players in Germany on your product – Enterprise Ireland can help to arrange this.

• You need to convince potential customers in Germany of the three C’s – i.e. that you are capable, competent and committed – and able to interface with them on all levels. Many companies are good at selling, but not so many are good at both selling and supporting clients on a technical level. After-sales service is hugely important as you are looking at a relationship that goes on for years – in our case for the lifespan of the machine incorporating our hydraulic cylinders.

• When you are lucky enough to win German customers, mind them like gemstones. They are hard to win so you don’t want to do anything to lose them. Bad news travels faster than good, so try to exceed what they might expect from suppliers on their own doorstep. Be as good, if not better, than local suppliers in terms of quality and consistency of service.

Learn more about doing business in the Eurozone with the support of Enterprise Ireland.

How Tenderscout is helping Irish companies to win business across the world

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“We’ve had Irish firms win contracts in Texas – companies who never would have looked for business beyond our shores before they started working with us.”

While every business relishes winning new contracts, few share the same enthusiasm for the tendering process. It can be laborious, consuming valuable time and requiring considerable investment, with success far from guaranteed.

One dynamic Dublin-based company, Tenderscout, is working to change that. Established by seasoned software developer and start-up specialist Tony Corrigan, the online platform was developed for Irish companies competing for tenders around the world.

Delivering expert support and specialised software, Tenderscout helps companies of all sizes to transform their approach to winning tenders, giving them the best chance to capitalise on a rapidly changing business landscape in which international borders may be no more restrictive than lines in the sand.

“We sit at the hub of the activities a company needs to complete in order to compete for global tenders,” explains Tony, who was inspired to set up the company after becoming frustrated with the inefficiencies he faced during tendering processes.

“That includes sourcing initial requests for tender, qualifying the job to assess if the company is a good fit, and then putting the proposal together.”

Irish businesses can use the Tenderscout platform to quickly find quality jobs posted around the world. The team, which numbers 10 and is growing, applies innovative technology to determine which clients are best-suited to win the tender, connecting them with expertly selected partners or consultants who can help deliver the proposal.

“For example, if you’re a business that would like to compete in Poland for an IT contract, we list companies that can provide required services in that market. That’s a huge advantage when competing internationally,” says Tony.

“We’re also building out a network of bid consultants around the world who can put together tender documents. We do some of this ourselves but primarily the platform is used to source the consultant with the expertise the bidding company needs.”

Expert knowledge of markets and sectors

Making connections with these consultants can be extremely powerful, Tony explains – whether to bridge geographical gaps and provide insights on language and cultural matters, or to offer specific sectoral subject matter expertise.

“If you’re tendering for a project to implement an IT system into a department of education, we can pair you with someone who has experience implementing IT systems into departments of education,” he explains.

Learnings from 3,000 tenders in four years

Tenderscout’s tried-and-tested framework allows the cost of partnerships to be managed to great effect.

“We’ve learned that consultants and the companies they serve don’t always share the same interests,” Tony comments. “It may be in the interests of a consultant for a job to last longer than a client company would like, for example.

By curating the relationship and providing a framework for how the process works, tenders can be developed for 60% of the cost.

We can deliver that because we’ve carried out 3,000 tenders over the past four years. It leaves us with a huge bank of reusable material, which means consultants don’t have to invent everything from scratch, so they can start working more quickly.”

Open your business to the world

One of Tenderscout’s major motivations is to change the status quo, in which most contracts are advertised and awarded to local companies.

“We work internationally ourselves, and we see that Irish companies are, in many cases, better placed to provide certain services than those in the US or Europe,” Tony says. “Particularly in areas such as software development, smart technologies, smart cities, internal productivity solutions, such as meeting room software, and other areas.

The issue is that companies are not always ambitious enough to look beyond their own borders. When they do, results are compelling. We’ve had Irish companies win contracts in Texas, companies who had never looked beyond Irish shores for business before they started working with us.”

Tony insists that companies should not allow fears or concerns about the tendering process to inhibit ambitions for growth.

“The barrier to success is not as high as people think when it comes to tendering,” he adds.

“If you were to take a random selection of tender documents and independently evaluate them, they’d score about 60%. To win, you’d need to be in the region of 90%.

“If you’re good at what you do, scoring highly shouldn’t be a problem. But the process itself can inhibit otherwise great bids.

“In short, if you put the proposal together well, you will win more often than will miss out.”

Going global with ambition

Tenderscout has become highly adept at navigating the international business landscape for clients, partly because their own journey has focused on international expansion, supported by Enterprise Ireland.

“We first became involved with Enterprise Ireland through the New Frontiers programme, then succeeded in getting a grant through the Competitive Start Fund in 2014,” recalls Tony. “From there, we were assigned an advisor, and were supported in research missions to the US and UK by the West Coast and London teams.”

While grant support was helpful in the company’s early days, the most valuable help, as with the company’s network of tendering consultants, came from creating connections and developing insights around the international markets.

“Enterprise Ireland’s support in connecting us with the local business community within each market and helping us to establish our credibility, made a real difference.”

Tech visionary Tony hopes more businesses will put their faith in the Tenderscout platform and use it to transform their fortunes.

“Tenderscout is the tool used by companies that win contracts,” says Tony. “If you’re in a situation in which you’re pitching for business, having Tenderscout in your corner is the best way to aim for success.”

Strong Strategy Key to Combilift’s German Market Success

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“Having Germany as a good reference has helped to build our credibility in other export markets – customers think if German companies are buying our product, it must be good.”

– Martin McVicar, Managing Director, Combilift

Key Takeouts:

  • Exporting proved easier than domestic sales from day one.
  • Selling direct before appointing a distributor was an effective strategy.
  • Europe has delivered more sustainable growth than BRICs.
  • Enterprise Ireland provided credibility and on-the-ground support.

Case Study: Combilift

German clients have been the easiest to convince and as a market, Germany has been one of the easiest for Combilift to crack and grow in – compared to Italy or Spain – according to managing director of the company, Martin McVicar.

“The reason for this is that Germans are very analytical and open to innovative products when they can see a visible benefit – for example, when it will make them more efficient,” he says.

“Having Germany as a good reference has helped to build our credibility in other export markets — customers think if German companies are buying our product, it must be good.”

McVicar established Combilift in Co Monaghan with Robert Moffett in 1998. Both were highly qualified engineers with decades of experience between them. Their expertise, knowledge of the market and practical experience led to the development of the Combilift — an innovative long-load material handling solution.

By the end of its first year, Combilift had sold 18 units — 17 of which were in the export markets of the UK, Norway, Belgium and France. To date it has sold 35,000 units in 75 different countries and has developed a range of customised handling solutions.

“In our first year, we did sell one unit locally in Co. Monaghan, but strangely we found it easier to sell into other markets as a start-up in development stage”

“Customers in Norway, for example, didn’t query how big or small we were – they just saw that our product was innovative and solved an unmet need.”

A traditional forklift drives backwards and forwards and is manufactured by major players such as Toyota and Mitsubishi. Recognising that they couldn’t compete directly with these manufacturers, McVicar and Moffett were focused on innovation from the beginning.

“One of the unique selling points of the initial model was that it was multidirectional – it could also move left and right – allowing customers handling long products to transport them in a sideward direction, like a crab movement” McVicar explains.

“Nobody had developed a product like this before — one that could operate both indoors and outdoors. Our forklift could handle any length of product in a small space and handle it with more safety.”

Combilifts’s Partnership with Enterprise Ireland:

  • Availed of Enterprise Ireland R&D supports since it was first established in 1997.
  • Benefitted from introductions to English-speaking distributors in Germany.
  • Participated in trade missions that helped secure new key customers.
  • Boosted management capability with the Leadership for Growth programme.

To see how Enterprise Ireland has enabled Combilift’s success, click here.

The direct approach

McVicar and Moffett recognised from the outset that as a manufacturer of materials handling equipment Combilift had to be focused on exports; the UK and Ireland alone would not sustain the business.

They were very targeted in terms of the type of customers they went for — specifically the segment of companies with long products, such as timber producers. “We knew the big players weren’t specialised in the long-load market. We started in mainland Europe; then went into the UK. We went into the US and Germany in year two, which meant we had broadened out to six countries,” says McVicar.

In the early years, Combilift entered countries quite quickly, directly targeting specific industries and customers and not actively looking for distributors. Taking this route led to distributors seeking the company out. “When distributors in a given market can see there are already a number of users of your product, it convinces them of its quality and they are much more likely to be successful in selling it than if you knock on their door,” notes McVicar.

“We made mistakes in some markets, taking on distributors that promised the sun, moon and stars and we went nowhere with them. Finding users first and appointing or looking for a distributor afterwards proved to be a much more successful strategy.”

In Germany and France, Combilift purposely appointed English-speaking distributors to speak to local clients on its behalf. It didn’t invest in language skills in Ireland, but placed sales people fluent in languages on the ground in different markets. There are currently three based in Germany.

“Germany has better spoken English generally than other European countries. If you can speak to the owner of a dealership in English you are more likely to make a fast impact in that market,” says McVicar.

Combilift is in the process of building a new €40m, 46,000 sq ft greenfield operation in Co. Monaghan, which will allow the company to double its production in a single shift. This is planned to be operational in 2017. Presently, Combilift employs a total of 440 people and recorded turnover of €200m last year.

 

Unlocking Europe’s Great Engineering Markets

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Taoglas tunes into Germany and France

Established in 2004, Taoglas provides advanced antenna and RF (radio frequency) solutions to the world’s leading wireless and Internet of Things (IoT) companies. Over the last decade, the company has gained a reputation for innovation built on its world-class design, support and test centres based in Ireland, Germany, Taiwan and the USA. Since 2015, Taoglas has launched over 100 new products onto the market.

The County Wexford-based business works with its customers to provide solutions for their unique antenna and RF challenges. In-house manufacturing takes place in its Taiwan and USA facilities, and company expertise and experience applies across different wireless and IoT use cases, from LTE to GNSS, DSRC, and NFC and beyond to 5G, gaining it success stories in telematics, automotive, metering, smart grid, wearables, medical devices, remote monitoring and high-speed video broadcasting.

Taoglas has recently established offices in France. French sales manager Sam McCarthy explains that the decision to establish a presence in France isn’t related to Brexit but rather builds on the success the company has enjoyed in the German market since setting up an office in Munich in 2015.

For an Irish engineering company looking to this market, a flair for the cutting edge needs to be at the heart of the offering, he adds. “For the engineering sector, in particular, you need to have innovation on your side. There are a lot of French companies that are very good at what they do and, if you are just good at doing something, you’ll find you have plenty of competition here.”

In France, the company is targeting particular opportunities in the smart metering market, as well as the automotive and digital signage sectors. The French office was opened in mid-2016 and McCarthy says the step of putting someone on the ground is a potentially transformative one for any ambitious Irish company looking to grow there. “The fact of having someone here, as opposed to managing the market from Ireland, is the difference between night and day. Customers here don’t learn about the company in the same way unless they have someone in front of them and, equally, the company can’t gain the same understanding of the marketplace without a presence on the ground.”

Establishing that presence requires both fluent French and a strong grounding in French business culture: “Formality is at the heart of the French way of doing business. It’s important to understand the subtleties of this as you set out to build relationships,” he told The Market.

While France is famous for a certain level of bureaucracy around employment, he adds that establishing an office need not be an onerous decision. “As long as the company presence is focused on sales, things don’t need to get complicated. As we grow and expand here, it will become a more sophisticated operation, but our experience is that for any company looking to set up a sales presence, there are solutions providers that eliminate the need to worry about excessive costs or paperwork.”

Kerry Abrasives expands out from Germany, Switzerland and Austria

A precision manufacturer of engineered abrasives, Kerry Abrasives was established in 1998 in Listowel by co-founders Liam Brosnan and Peter Mc Kenzie-Vass. The company’s diverse client base includes aerospace, automotive, cutlery and hand tools, bearings and medical device, bringing a natural international focus to its activities. Sales and marketing manager Ina Baumann explains that the very diversity of its portfolio has to be factored into its growth and development strategy.

“Being in so many individual industries can be challenging in terms of focus. We tend to work by product or industry sector and develop markets both from a product focus and a geographic base.”

The Kerry headquartered business is in the somewhat unusual position of having its more established markets in central Europe, particularly Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and seeing the UK as more of a development opportunity.

Using a reseller model to sell to specific clients, the company is developing a distribution network to extend its reach in Central Europe, targeting growth particularly in Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and Poland, over the coming years.

Baumann says that the business leverages its standing in Germany through participation in events such as GrindTec, a flagship event for the industry. “GrindTec is the main industry trade event, and it attracts a lot of interest from Eastern Europe businesses who want to see the latest development. It isn’t just the large companies with manufacturing facilities that are there; smaller indigenous companies also attend. They are looking to Germany and western Europe for new ideas,” she told The Market.

“The level we play at is a little above the normal abrasive. Our products are customised, and we go the extra step to deliver a better finish and real life efficiencies. If you can deliver that you can hold your customer; price is not the issue.”

While Brexit is creating uncertainty for some, Baumann says that for a company already focused on the Eurozone, “it’s very much business as usual. You have to put in effort with a new client, in terms of testing, modifying and getting approval, but growth is happening, and we are positive.”

Mergon targets Central Europe’s massive manufacturing base

Established in 1981, Mergon is an Irish company with operations in Ireland, the Czech Republic and the US. Recognised internationally in the area of technical moulding, the company designs, manufactures and assembles components for clients in the automotive, industrial and healthcare sectors. Mergon made headlines in the 2014 World Cup when it was revealed that the 79,000 seats in Rio’s Maracana stadium had been manufactured by the company, both at its Castlepollard plant in Co Westmeath and its facility in Brno, Czech Republic. In 2016, the company confirmed its standing as an international player with the opening of the Mergon Innovation Centre in Castlepollard.

Sales and manufacturing director Tom Mullen explains that the opening of the facility in Czech Republic in 2004 has been instrumental in its growth in Central and Eastern Europe. The facility opened at a time when costs were increasing in Ireland but also responded to developments in a part of Europe that was becoming a major manufacturing hub, particularly in the automotive sector. This is an industry where “to grow sales and deal with rising costs, you needed to be close to the customer”.

Mullen says that achieving the success they’ve found in Central Europe “would have be very difficult without the Brno plant, as we wouldn’t have been able to grow sales as aggressively. If you don’t have presence, it can be hard to convince your customer that you can supply them. Once we established here, that presence has actually supported our manufacturing capability in Ireland. We can switch capacity and supply from both locations.” In its approach to Europe, the company divides the continent with strategic line supply from Czech Republic.

For an Irish company looking to expand in Central Europe, Mullen says it is “really no different to selling in any other part of Europe”, but adds that “having people who can speak the language and know the culture is certainly important. It wouldn’t be as effective if we were to try to do the same thing with an Irish sales team”.

The opportunity represented by the automotive industry in the region has, if anything, only increased over the years. The Škoda auto plant has its headquarters in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic, while neighbouring Slovakia holds the title of the world’s largest producer of cars per capita, with Volkswagen, PSA Peugeot Citroen and Kia Motors all having major facilities there. While it is a prestigious industry to be part of, Mullen points out that winning clients will usually come down to the two particular drivers, namely being the best and the best value, and suppliers have to prove themselves in terms of technical capability, consistency, quality and ability to delivery on time.

As regards the tendency of Irish companies to focus on the UK, he ascribes it to a general trait of “following the path of least resistance. If you’re going to get business in the UK, then naturally you’ll concentrate on that, but from a risk point of view, the broader the spread of your business the better. Our experience is that if you can sell successfully into the UK, then you have nothing to fear in other markets in Europe”.

Setting up in the Czech Republic has undoubtedly been pivotal to its growth in Central Europe and, overall, the experience has been excellent, Mullen adds. “We have only had good experiences. It is another piece of the jigsaw, and it has allowed us to keep higher specification jobs in Ireland. The dual presence benefits both locations and has been an important part of our growth.”

Mapping Europe’s engineering strengths

Germany remains Europe’s industrial powerhouse as a leader in automotive and machine manufacturing. The fourth largest producer of cars in the world behind the US, China and Japan, the industry is dominated by household names like Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Opel, Porsche and Volkswagen. In addition, Germany controls 14 per cent of the global market for construction and material handling equipment. Doing business with some of the country’s global giants can also open opportunities to enter the supply chain of these German headquartered multinationals elsewhere in the world.

Central Europe’s substantial Central Europe’s substantial and growing manufacturing hub now includes large portions of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. It is fast becoming one of the leading global destinations for domestic appliance, flat-screen TV and automotive manufacturing.

With strengths in agricultural machinery, energy, cleantech, transport and aerospace, the French engineering sector is worth an estimated €40bn, employs around 350,000 people and is forecast to grow by 7.4 per cent over the 2015-2020 period. Key trends include energy transition, maintenance and renovation, smart cities and intelligent transport.

Italy is also famous for its engineering sector and is home to leading global companies in sectors such as automotives, aerospace and oil and gas. Irish companies with innovative solutions and niche products and international references can win business here.

The Nordic nations of Sweden, Norway and Finland are European leaders in metal ore mining, and Norway is a global player in the oil and gas sector. Sweden is home to an innovation-led automotive sector for cars and heavy and specialised vehicles, while Denmark is a European forerunner in renewable energy innovation, particularly in the areas of wind and biogas.

The Benelux ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp provide entry to Europe, making this a good market for logistics, fleet management and other solutions that can improve material handling and transportation efficiencies.

Grant engineers French success

Grant engineers French success

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In the wake of the Brexit vote, oil boiler specialist Grant Engineering immediately looked to develop its export markets.

The Offaly-based company employs up to 320 people. It also has operations in the UK, where it employs a further 80 staff and accounts for more than half of the UK oil boiler market.

This year it will launch in France, delegates attending Ambition France, an Enterprise Ireland event, heard.

How Enterprise Ireland supported market entry to France

It started by attending a French trade show, supported by Enterprise Ireland. “It was an opportunity to invite people from our industry to meet us,” said Niall Fay, a director of the company.

The company availed of Enterprise Ireland’s Business Accelerator initiative, which helps companies retain the services of an industry expert in country. “He spent two months contacting local potential distributors and clients, asking them to come to see us at the show and arranging the meetings.”

The result was an unexpected but welcome offer. “Two guys from a company that was of particular interest to us were looking for a career change and were keen to develop the business for us so we agreed to take them on an consultancy basis. We were lucky to find French people with 40 years industry experience between them.”

A Market Access Grant from Enterprise Ireland enabled the company to localise the product for the French market. The company then set up offices and a training facility. Grant established in France as an SAS company, the most common limited liability structure in France, opened bank accounts and registered for VAT.

Having French nationals heading up the company was a huge advantage. “One of the biggest concerns we had was finding someone within the industry who would come and join a company that is a complete unknown in France. We have gotten over that hurdle and now we are looking at sales. It is very common in France to have sales agents all over the various regions of France and that is the route to market we are going to go.”

Here too, having French nationals who know the market, and can assess candidates, has been a boon.

His French hires have extensive knowledge of the agent network and have already selected 12 they reckon can deliver. “That would have been very hard for us to do,” said Fay.

Establishing the right corporate structure is vital, said Noel Cunningham, head of FDI at Mazars in Dublin. While a liaison office can be a good way to test the waters, incurring no tax liabilities in the country, it isn’t a sustainable solution because it precludes the signing of contracts.

And if you have three or four sales people on the ground, you could find you have a taxable presence there.

Hiring locally is important. “But doing your due diligence in relation to who you hire is extremely important too,” said Cunningham.

“Apart from the cost and effort involved in hiring unsuitable candidates, it can also damage your brand. Make sure there is someone back at base who is controlling them and be clear about what type of reports they should be generating,” he said.

Work with people who have an understanding of the different culture and language, said Fabrice Folliot of F4B Development, a French national and market accelerator.

“The mistake is to come into the market from a very strong position in Ireland, even a dominant one, and think that going into to France from that position would be easy. It’s not the case,” said Folliot, citing the common tourist experience of Paris by way of analogy.

Efforts to localise essential for French market

“If you start to ask directions in English, no one will stop for you. If you start even with broken French, to show you are making an effort, people will. In business, it’s about making an effort and working with the right kind of people. That is a positive sign that shows you want to invest in, and plan to be in, the market for the long term.”

Despite France’s reputation for bureaucracy, the time it takes to set up a company has been reduced to a matter of minutes online, pointed out Hubert Levesque, managing director of Morgan McKinley France, a recruitment agency.

The “Macron effect” has seen economic growth of more than 2% and unemployment of 5% at executive level, leading to a tightening of labour market, Levesque warned. The result is salary inflation of 7% this year.  “All of this makes it harder and harder to get good high profile candidates if you have a good brand. So when you are entering with an unknown brand, it’s even harder.”

Being open to locating outside of Paris can help.

“Everybody wants to go to Paris but that is going to be more expensive and you are going to be more anonymous. There are other cities too to consider, including dynamic ones such as Lyons, Marseilles or Bordeaux, which is just two hours from Paris by train. Salaries are cheaper there because you can offer a better quality of life.”

Take advantage of the supports available to you, including Ireland’s short “distance to power”.

“When we opened our French office the Irish ambassador, government Minister Bruton and Enterprise Ireland CEO Julie Sinnamon all came,” said Tony Richardson, CEO of Venn Life Sciences.

“Our French staff were gobsmacked by the level of access an Irish company can get to a government representative, which you simply would not get in France. It made them feel really important and that they work for an Irish company which is really important to the Irish government.”

For more information on doing business in France download our Going Global guide to France.

Linesight Maximises Data Centre Opportunity in the Netherlands

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“We had started doing a lot of data centre projects for US multinationals in Ireland so we decided to look at the Netherlands as Amsterdam is a hub of activity for data centres.” – Paul Butler, director, Linesight

 

 

 

Key Takeouts:

  • Enterprise Ireland trade missions and market introductions a key success factor.
  • Excellence in service and personnel a key differentiator and competitive advantage.
  • Dutch data centre business a bridgehead for growing other sectors and European markets.

Case Study: Linesight

Five years ago Dublin-headquartered firm Linesight decided to go on fact-finding missions to the Netherlands with the help of Enterprise Ireland. It was a move which has led to around 70% growth in its fee base in that market since then and an increase in its team based there from four to 30 people.

Linesight provides professional services and strategic support to the global construction industry. Projects span a range of industry sectors including commercial, data centres, life sciences, healthcare, transportation and infrastructure and retail.

Originally established in 1974 as Bruce Shaw, Linesight rebranded in 2016 with a view to having a name that could be owned in all markets. The name Linesight was inspired by the company having its clients’ goals in their direct line of sight from initial concept through to successful project completion.

With staff located across Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and North America, Linesight increased its global headcount by 135 and recorded turnover of about €60m for the group in 2016. It now has 17 offices around the world and has delivered projects in 40 countries.

Linesight’s growth in the first 30 years or so was mainly focused on Ireland and the UK where it established a number of offices. When the recession hit in 2008, it had built up a 25% market share in the domestic market for professional services to the construction industry. It had also generated a limited amount of international business.

The downturn in construction at home prompted the company to look at international markets more keenly and the Benelux region – and the Netherlands in particular – seemed a promising area to focus on. It had worked on five or six small projects there, but further to building up expertise and skills in data centre projects it saw an opportunity.

“We had started doing a lot of data centre projects for US multinationals in Ireland so we decided to look at the Netherlands as Amsterdam is a hub of activity for data centres,” says Linesight director Paul Butler.

“In addition, a lot of pharmaceutical multinationals were starting to set up subsidiary plants in the Benelux region. We recognised that we had the relevant in-house expertise and key staff delivering professional services in these areas. We wanted to retain that staff and the Netherlands was of particular interest to us.”

 

Linesights’s Partnership with Enterprise Ireland:

  • Attended a series of Enterprise Ireland workshops on data centres.
  • Benefitted from introductions to the market/local contractors organised by Enterprise Ireland.
  • Participated in Taoiseach’s trade mission to the Netherlands and Germany.

To see how Enterprise Ireland has enabled Linesight’s success, click here.

Competitive advantage through people

Over the years Linesight had established a partnership approach with clients based on consistency and clarity, and it has a proven track record in terms of quality and timely delivery of projects. This stood to the company when it came to building business in the Netherlands.

“For some of our clients developing projects in the Dutch market we were preferred bidders and travelled there with them as part of their team, offering the same service as we had in the Irish market,” Butler explains.

“Other projects involved competitive bidding as companies may have had their own in-house auditing functions – but we were also very competitive in winning that work.”

Some multinational clients even requested that certain individuals from Linesight work on projects with them in the Netherlands, Butler adds, “Our people are key in terms of generating repeat business. Senior project managers see projects through from cradle to grave and directors oversee projects on a 24/7 basis. The personal relationships built up over time have been very important.”

The Netherlands has been a relatively easy market for Linesight to enter as English is widely spoken and its framework in terms of contracting is similar to Ireland’s. “Being fluent contractually is a different thing than being able to speak a language. In other European countries language can be a barrier in this respect. We demand that contractors deal with us in English in the Netherlands,” says Butler.

That being said, once Linesight started to focus on the Dutch market, it invested a lot of time in ensuring it had the right contractors and partners to deliver projects to the standard required. It also had to get to grips with different regulations in relation to construction, planning codes and timeframes.

“Even within the Netherlands different regions are more regulated in terms of construction. For example, near the German border there is still a lot of heavy industry, which contrasts with the Amsterdam area,” says Butler.

“We had to stretch our web of contractors beyond the Amsterdam area. Now we have a high level of tried and trusted partners in the Netherlands that we know will deliver for us.”

Now that Linesight is established in the Dutch market it is looking at new opportunities within its existing client base, such as in the retail and pharmaceutical sectors. It also wants to take advantage of some new areas, in particular in relation to the local supply chain and newly built logistics centres.

“There are some very good companies competing with us for business. What differentiates us, in addition to our people, is the fact that we are an all-in company that can provide cost management, project management and risk assessment. This is vital for a lot of big multinationals,” notes Butler.

“A significant proportion of our people have backgrounds in civil, electrical or mechanical engineering – so our service is not just about number crunching, they can understand the design. They can go through drawings with clients in great detail and are fluent in engineering language.”

Gaining a foothold in the Netherlands has led to Linesight building business in Germany and Belgium. Once clients’ projects are completed in the Netherlands, it has extended its network to continue working with them in other locations.

“They want the consistent, clean approach of dealing with us, rather than having to educate a new local provider in their needs and ways. The flexibility of our people and operation has been key to our success.”

Top Tips for Exporting to Europe:

  • Be flexible and adapt to the needs of major multinational customers.
  • Build a strong local presence to really be successful in a market.
  • Harness the Irish mentality of ‘getting the job done’.

For more details, click here.

Innovation and Tradition Combine in Oakpark Foods Winning Formula

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“We are now a key player in the UK market and have contracts with Morrisons, Aldi UK and others. We had to make a substantial investment in our factory, technology and management team to do it and it wouldn’t have been possible without Enterprise Ireland support.”
David Brett, Oakpark Foods

Key Takeouts:

  • Oakpark Foods availed of Enterprise Ireland’s food innovation supports to improve their packaging and develop new products.
  • It has enjoyed significant growth in recent years, largely driven by exports, but sees Brexit as a major issue.
  • The company now employs almost 100 people, with annual sales of just under €31 million.

Case Study: Oakpark Foods

Oakpark Foods has established itself as a leading bacon products supplier in the hugely competitive British retail market. “40% of our business is now in the UK,” says general manager David Brett. “We have been able to differentiate ourselves from our competitors there by using innovative packaging, clever new product development, and bespoke unique cures.”

The Cahir, County Tipperary-based company is part of the family-owned Brett Group, which has been supplying farm inputs in the region for almost 80 years. “We are now in the fourth generation,” he says. “The business dates back to the 1940s. Our core business is animal feed manufacturing. We sell dairy, pig and ruminant feed to famers around Leinster and Munster.”

The company acquired Oakpark Foods in the early 1990s. “Back then it was a small operation supplying local supermarkets and shops with bacon products. When we came on board we looked at how we could add value. After that, the opportunity came up to buy the nearby Sunglen Pig Farm which produces 800 pigs a week. Our mill in Callan in County Kilkenny manufactures the pig feed using a bespoke diet; this is then fed to our own pigs on our farm; and we produce top-quality consumer packs of bacon joints and rashers at Oakpark. This gives us unique seed to fork provenance.”

Oakpark has enjoyed significant growth in recent years, largely driven by exports, according to Brett.

“We are now a key player in the UK market and have contracts with Morrisons, Aldi UK and others,” he adds. “We had to make a substantial investment in our factory, technology and management team to do it and it wouldn’t have been possible without Enterprise Ireland support.”

The breakthrough into the UK was also facilitated by the growth of the discount chains in Ireland. “We supply both Aldi and Lidl here and they introduced us to the right people in the UK. That was a great help. But we also had to invest in a very significant R&D programme and we introduced a number of first-to-market products there. We used packaging technology to extend the shelf life of our products, we developed a new-style American streaky bacon product, and we also introduced 50 per cent fat-reduced lardons which appeal to increasingly health-conscious consumers.”

All of the R&D was carried out inhouse with Enterprise Ireland support. “It was a lot of hard work, but it had to be done. If we didn’t have a different story to tell we would have just been another bacon supplier.”

The company now employs almost 100 people, with annual sales of just under €31 million and is implementing a strategy to grow turnover by 33 per cent over the coming years. That strategy also takes Brexit into account.

“Brexit is a major issue for everyone involved in the food industry and we have to make our business as lean and efficient as possible in response,” he points out.

The bacon business will not suffer to the same extent as others, however, as Brett explains. “80% of the bacon sold in the UK is of EU origin and British people aren’t going to stop eating bacon overnight. The traditional bacon butty will remain a staple part of the diet. But Brexit is a serious issue nevertheless and we have done a lot of scenario planning. Selling into the UK will not be as simple as it is today. That’s a given.”

The company is not going to rely on a continuing taste for bacon in its key export market and is investing €5 million in a new facility in Clonmel with Enterprise Ireland support. The new manufacturing facility will produce a new range aimed at mainland Europe and further afield.

“It’s a completely new venture and will be up and running very shortly,” says Brett. “We are diversifying away from the UK market. The UK will remain important to us though and we are in there for the long haul. We have one of the most efficient slicing lines in these islands. That’s vitally important. In the end, it’s all about the price of a packet of rashers.”

Click here to learn more about Enterprise Ireland’s Innovation supports.

Movidius

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“These connections are worth far more than any amount of money they can give you.”

David Maloney – CTO & Founder

Who

Movidius are a leading developer of high performance computer vision platforms with applications in drones, VR headsets and robotics.

How

Enterprise Ireland’s connections with universities enabled Movidius to access technologies that they needed, enabling their ability to expand to international markets.

Result

Movidius’s success in international markets led to the company being acquired by Intel in September 2016.

See How We Helped Movidius

Tricel

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Commitment to France Pays Off for Tricel

“In France, we are a French company with French people on the ground and a nationwide French distribution network. We have a very responsive business set-up providing next day delivery once a product is assembled.”

— Mike Stack, Managing Director.

Key Takeouts:

  • Developing a range of environmental products was timely.
  • Local factories and French-speaking staff are important.
  • Enterprise Ireland toured France with Tricel in early days.
  • More emphasis on marketing within the business in recent years.

Case Study: Tricel

While attending a trade show in Evreux in France in 2009, Killarney-based manufacturing firm Tricel heard an announcement which would prove to be a watershed moment in terms of its growth in that market.

A representative from the Ministry of the Environment, Energy and the Sea told participants at the trade show that from that point on a government

licence would be required for waste-water treatment systems for one-off houses in France.

Called KMG (Killarney Manufacturing Group) at the time, Tricel went about getting such a licence for its sewage treatment products – which it managed to do in 2011 – and the company’s growth in France took off from there. It secured a significant volume of sales in its first year, and sales have doubled year-on-year over the past four years in France, according to managing director Mike Stack.

Mike’s parents Con and Anne Stack founded Killarney Plastics in 1973 to manufacture high quality composite and fibreglass (GRP) products. At that time GRP was a new and innovative material to the Irish market.

The company went on to develop its own range of products – water storage tanks and meter enclosures – and built up a strong business supplying housing and commercial buildings in Ireland and the UK.

“Things were going nicely until the crash in 2008. Sterling devalued by close to 40% and almost went to parity with the euro in December of that year. This made UK companies more competitive and the market for houses and commercial buildings started to collapse rapidly from then on,” says Stack.

“We had to think about how we could reposition ourselves so as not to be so dependent on the UK. So, we looked to continental Europe and developed a range of environmental products, including the sewage treatment solution which has done so well in France.”

Top Tips for Exporting to France:

  • France requires commitment, particularly in relation to the language.
  • Having a base in France allows for expansion.
  • Building a strong brand in France led to global re-branding.

For more detail, click here

A Strong Brand

Tricel was one of the first companies from a country outside France to get the government licence mentioned above, which has allowed the company to build up a strong brand in the market since 2011.

“What has worked well for us has been the fact that our product is simple, robust and reliable. It is made with composite materials and high quality parts – people like the fact that they don’t need to adjust it or spend money maintaining it. This is also important for distributors who don’t want to have to make call-backs once a product is installed,” notes Stack.

Recognising that the French business was going to be substantial, Tricel established a factory in Poitiers in 2011. The group’s first factory on mainland Europe, the site acts as a commercial hub for France as well as a base from which to expand to other mainland European markets and French-speaking countries. Similar to the approach it took in the UK since the mid 1990s, Tricel manufactures all the parts in Ireland and uses the French factory for assembly.

Now with 25 people based in France, Tricel is in the process of kitting out a second plant in France, in Avignon. It has started recruiting for this new operation in the south-east of the country, which will play a pivotal role as a key assembly, logistics and distribution centre.

“In France, we are a French company with French people on the ground and a nationwide French distribution network. We have a very responsive business set-up providing next day delivery once a product is assembled,” says Stack. “This is important for distributors, which are mainly small businesses in local areas. It means we can get the tanks to them very quickly.”

 

Scope for Growth

“Last year we launched our new Seta waste-water treatment tank in France to meet the demand in the holiday home market. It is suitable for both constant and intermittent effluent use.”

Further to establishing the Tricel brand for sewage systems in France and Germany the decision was made to rebrand the entire group to Tricel in 2014. It is now an established global provider of high performance solutions for the water, environmental, construction and materials industries with 12 operating locations across Europe.

Tricel currently employs 350 people, 134 of which are based at its headquarters in Killarney. “Since 2010 we have doubled our headcount and plan to employ 600 people across the group by 2020,” says Stack.

“Innovation will be the key driver of this growth. Over the past year we have switched from a cross-company approach to innovation to having someone with dedicated responsibility for this in each of the four divisions. A big thing for us has been to get better at measuring innovation and setting targets.”

The key to Tricel’s success in France has been being absolutely committed to the market since it first went there. “We have a managing director in France and the back-up of a lot of French-speaking staff both locally and in Killarney,” says Stack.

“We have taken a committed approach to all new export markets as we believe things don’t go so well generally if you just dip your toe in. In order for both customers and sales people to feel confident about our products, it is important for them to know that we have factories on the ground and people locally they can speak to.”

Tricel’s Partnership with Enterprise Ireland:

  • Enterprise Ireland outlined four pillars to focus on for market diversification
  • Members of the Tricel team took part in training courses to boost international sales
  • Paris office hugely supportive during market research and entry phase in France
  • Strategic marketing review supported by Enterprise Ireland particularly useful

CurrencyFair

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“The foresight and belief that Enterprise Ireland has given us, and the practical advice and mentoring, we wouldn’t have gotten that anywhere else. It was really key to our success.”

Caroline Nangle – Head of People & Culture

Who

CurrencyFair gives ordinary people access to foreign exchange rates normally reserved for banks and market professionals, making it cheaper to transfer money internationally.

How

CurrencyFair was able to scale rapidly and internationally through practical advice and mentoring that they received from the Enterprise Ireland team.

Result

CurrencyFair is now a global operation with over 90 staff and offices in Ireland, Australia and the UK.

See How We Helped CurrencyFair

Arralis

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“The fact that Enterprise Ireland delivered the European Space agency was incredible. That was instrumental. That is where it all started.”

Barry Lunn – CEO & Founder

Who

Arralis is a rapidly scaling technology company providing world leading expertise in RF, micro and millimetre-wave technology.

How

Enterprise Ireland helped Arralis break into the American, Chinese and Russian markets and, most importantly, introduced them to the European Space Agency.

Result

Arralis are now a world leader in their field working with six of the top ten aerospace companies. In 2016 they opened new offices in China and the USA.

See How We Helped Arralis

How Brexit drove Associated Rewinds to grow in new markets

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“Our focus up to two years ago was on the UK and Scandinavian markets, so when the Brexit vote came we recognised quickly that we were very exposed”

– Eamonn Griffith, International Sales Manager

Key Takeouts:

  • A strategic decision to target EU markets in response to Brexit.
  • Niche specialists with clients that invest millions of euro in locomotives who want to maximise the lifespan of that investment.
  • The Enterprise Ireland market research support was the ideal mechanism to help realise market diversification ambitions.

Case Study: Associated Rewinds

The outcome of the UK Brexit referendum in June 2016 prompted a strategic rethink on the part of Associated Rewinds, the Tallaght-based company that is the largest independent specialist in Europe for re-engineering, repairing and maintaining traction motors for trains, trams and metro systems. While the company boasts customers stretching from Scandinavia to Spain and Saudi Arabia, it had concerns in relation to its level of exposure to the UK market.

“Our focus up to two years ago was on the UK and Scandinavian markets, so when the Brexit vote came we recognised quickly that we were very exposed”, says international sales manager Eamonn Griffith. “We couldn’t predict the long-term impact but fluctuations in sterling became a problem again very quickly. It was like going back to the pre-euro days.”

In 2015, Associated Rewinds completed a large investment of approximately €5 million in a third factory in Tallaght, increasing capacity by 30%. “Due to Brexit and our increased capacity, we took a strategic decision that we needed to reduce our exposure to the UK as quickly as possible. We targeted EU markets – France, Germany, Austria and other countries where there is a sizeable volume of train assets and currency stability.”

The company enjoys considerable advantages when it comes to exploring new markets. “We are a niche specialist in traction motors for the rail sector”, Eamonn explains. “We remanufacture and maintain the motors. Our clients invest millions of euro in locomotives and they want to maximise the lifespan of that investment. They want to get 40–50 years’ life out of their assets and maintenance is crucial. It’s like owning a car, if you maintain it well, you will get a much longer life and better value from it.”

Associated Rewinds services all the main motor brands – GM, Bombardier, Siemens, Alstom and so on – and it has earned a reputation for solving difficult problems for customers. “Our clients have different environmental challenges. Scandinavia is subject to big weather extremes, with hot summers and very cold winters. We have the experience and capabilities to redesign and rebuild the motors to suit the environment. This sets us apart from our competitors.”

One example of such a customer is the Royal Mail in the UK which, 12 years ago, was experiencing severe difficulties with motors failing and trains breaking down on the tracks. “It was causing such chaos that it got to the stage where they were told to take the trains off the line until they resolved the problem. They asked us to investigate and establish what was causing their problems which resulted in us redesigning the motors. They haven’t had a single failure since. Royal Mail has since been happy to recommend us to other rail companies.”

Associated Rewinds discussed its ambitions for market diversification with Enterprise Ireland. “We wanted to reduce our UK exposure and fill our increased capacity as quickly as possible”, says Eamonn Griffith.

The Enterprise Ireland market research support was “the ideal mechanism to help us. It enabled us to do what we intended to do much more quickly than our resources allowed us to do and helped us carry out detailed market research in each of the target countries. We put in our application to Enterprise Ireland in late 2016 and received approval in January 2017. We have made some really good progress in the past 12 months.”

The French national rail company SNCF audited the Associated Rewinds facilities recently. “We have just received our first order from them. In addition to our original target markets we have received our first orders from Spain and Belgium. Our increased access to the European rail market is a direct result of the expansion of our sales team, combined with the results of the Enterprise Ireland market research undertaken into each of our target markets.

This research helped find where there was most demand for the company’s services. “We wanted to identify companies with problematic motors. That is the sweet spot and gives us something concrete to bring to the table with potential customers.”

“I would recommend the Enterprise Ireland programme very highly to other companies. Their office network in Europe is very helpful and the Enterprise Ireland people have been around the block many times. They are knowledgeable about both the positive and challenging aspects of researching and entering new markets. Enterprise Ireland has experienced the successes and failures of many other companies before us and can help companies like Associated Rewinds avoid the pitfalls and capitalise on previous success.

Researching and validating new markets can be an expensive and a time-consuming process. The Enterprise Ireland market research support assists with that. But you need to have a very clear focus on what you want to achieve and know your value proposition for that market.”

 Learn how Enterprise Ireland’s Diversification supports can help you to develop market knowledge and prepare for the challenges of entering new markets.