Why Portwest views the Eurozone as its local market

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Once a small family business in Mayo, Portwest has become the world’s fastest growing work wear company. Here’s how.

The saying, ‘don’t let perfect be the enemy of good’ means that if you wait for everything to be perfect, you’ll never progress. For businesses, the maxim could well be adapted to ‘don’t let success in the home market be the enemy of export growth’.

It was an issue touched on by Harry Hughes, CEO of Mayo-based safety clothing and equipment company Portwest. He was speaking at Competing for the Future, a breakfast briefing panel discussion organised by Enterprise Ireland as part of International Markets Week.

During the discussion, Hughes suggested to a packed auditorium in the RDS that success in the home market can inadvertently stymie ambition overseas.

“When you go abroad to foreign markets, you are starting at ground zero, which is not an easy place to be,” said Hughes.

It takes a successful business out of its comfort zone. “It just takes time and you have to stay with it,” he said.

Hughes, who is the current EY Entrepreneur of the Year, helped grow what was a small family business with a turnover of €100,000 in 1978 into the €205 million a year business employing 3000 staff it is today.

 

How Portwest broke Europe

The UK was Portwest’s first export market and remains an important one for the company today, accounting for 40% of its business. Its success there may, however, have discouraged it from entering new markets.

“We were probably slow learners in the beginning, in that we were 25 years selling in Britain and had reached maturity in that market before, 15 years ago, we started looking into Europe,” said Hughes.

It has taken a “one step at a time” approach to new markets ever since, starting with the Netherlands and then France. Today, Portwest sells into 120 countries worldwide.

“We started in the Dutch market and after that it was one brick at a time in Europe. We now have sales people in every country in Europe. We have eight people in Germany which we have found to be the most difficult to crack but obviously the prize is the biggest, at 82 million people.”

Every country has its own nuances, he said, and it’s important to understand the competition in each. “In our case, we would have 50 competitors right across Europe. Nobody is standing at doors waiting for us. But if you are persistent, you will get there in the end.”

The key is to innovate, he said. “We have to look at the local styling. The Germans expect a better product for a lower price, so we’ve had to adapt to that. There is no reason why any Irish company cannot succeed as long as they keep saying ‘What are the issues?’ and keep resolving them.”

Mistakes are inevitable. In Portwest’s case, a key hire made in Ireland and relocated to Europe turned out not to be the best strategy. “Now we employ French people in France, Germans in Germany and so on. The boots on the ground need to be local,” said Hughes.

Today the company, which sells globally, views the Eurozone as its local market. “We have the same currency, the same laws, there are no borders.”

Brexit uncertainties make looking further than the UK more important than ever. Portwest has responded to the UK’s imminent departure from the EU by shifting some of its warehouse activities.

“There are only two things we give away – warehousing and sales. Everything else we do in Mayo,” he said.

The company recently acquired 140,000 sq ft of warehousing in Poland, reducing its warehousing space in Britain. “We take the attitude of ‘plan for the worst’,” said Hughes. “So rather than have one major distribution centre servicing the EU we will have two.”

Regardless of the ultimate outcome of Brexit, such a move makes good business sense, he said. “We’ve been growing at around 25% a year and currently have nine international warehouses, but from a Brexit point of view, we only had one distribution centre in Europe, so that will now go to two.”

Language and culture are not barriers so much as issues to be resolved, he said. “You need to see (the Eurozone) as a local market and get out there and invest,” he said. “Sales are going to cost you initially but once you make that initial investment, once you get a taste for selling into one country in Europe, you’ll find it as easy as selling in Ireland – and then you will keep going.”

CEO 4site

How 4site engineers innovate

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“We are design-led. It’s a unique selling point. We bring innovation to every project we do.”

Ian Duggan, CEO 4site

Key Takeouts:

  • 4site is a leader in the design, survey and installation of fibre networks.

  • The company has fostered a culture of innovation, learning and knowledge-transfer.

  • Success is driven by cost-efficiencies and speed made possible by innovative design.

  • Enterprise Ireland’s Grad Start funding supported the employment of graduate engineers to meet the challenges of a quickly changing sector.

Case Study: 4site

4site is a leader in the design and roll out of large-scale fibre network systems, the gold standard for digital connectivity. Founded in 2003, the company is based in Limerick, with offices in Dublin and the UK, and has approximately 80 employees. 

Starting out as an engineering firm, run by and employing engineers, 4site is committed to a culture of innovation with new, imaginative design solutions that give the company a competitive edge.

“If I were to offer advice to start-ups in the sector it would be to diversify – don’t be too dependent on a particular capability.” 

 

Innovation at 4site

This is reflected in the recruiting and training of graduate engineers, supported by Enterprise Ireland’s Graduate Business Growth (Grad Start) and Job Expansion Funds.

Enterprise Ireland’s support helped expand the number of employees and establish an in-house Fibre Planning Programme tailored to the skills 4site requires. Employees are mentored, attend weekly training sessions and are encouraged to contribute new ideas through an Innovation Forum. In 2018, Engineers Ireland acknowledged 4site’s excellence in CPD through its Accredited Employer Scheme.

 

“One of the most successful parts of our business is getting young, enthusiastic graduates who contribute a wealth of new ideas. They always have a faster, better way of doing things and within six months, they are really fantastic additions to the organisation.” 

 

The ‘4Survey’ app, introduced in 2017 and developed in partnership with Esri, the international supplier of geographic information software, was a product of the Innovation Forum. No more marking maps by hand, taking photos on a handheld device and filling in spreadsheets, which are then taken separately to a central office. The app does it all, transferring complex survey data straight to the design team via the internet. The survey process is now 50% faster, more accurate and more cost effective.

A further innovation is the use of the latest drone technology. Drones highlight solutions not readily available from ground level – for example, carrying out an asset inventory check on a 40m tower, gauging the safety of a rooftop before accessing it, or eliminating the need for permits and mobile platforms at the roadside. Cost and disruption are kept to a minimum, while health and safety risks are minimised by reducing the need for working at height.

This approach has garnered impressive results. A leading provider of fibre network in the UK is blue chip firm CityFibre. 4site recently won the contract to design CityFibre’s new networks in the UK cities of Huddersfield and Coventry. This contract is 4site’s biggest yet and is worth in excess of one million sterling. CityFibre has ambitious plans to provide fibre to five million homes across 12 UK cities.

In 2017, 4site provided survey and design services to develop a 5G-ready network for the Scottish city of Aberdeen. 4site also fitted a network of ‘small cell’ sites connected to existing fibre and power services. Small cells are unobtrusive and cost-effective installations, ensuring excellent wireless and mobile phone coverage particularly suited to the densely populated urban environment.

With over a decade’s experience of major network infrastructure projects, 4site has acquired a reputation for excellence. This year, they were only the second Irish company accepted to the FTTH Council of Europe. They have also achieved ISO certification in environmental management, quality management, and health and safety, as well as acquiring a list of major clients including Vodafone, Cignal, Huawei, Three, Nokia, Ericsson, O2, Eir and Siro.

Duggan recognises that quality and reliability are also important factors in their success, “I think it’s trust that builds strong relationships with our customers, and the fact that we can do things faster and cheaper than our competitors.”

 

How support from Enterprise Ireland helped 4site to succeed

Advice from Enterprise Ireland resulted in a greater emphasis on sales and marketing, and a restructuring of the management team, Duggan explains, “Enterprise Ireland encouraged us to rebrand and invest in full time sales and marketing managers.  We have built a strong leadership team in the organisation – that has been key.”

“Enterprise Ireland’s advice and support were transformative for the business.” 

4site also made use of Enterprise Ireland’s Business Accelerator Funding scheme to expand into the UK market with offices established in Reading in 2012.

 

The future for 4site

Europe is only just beginning to promote fibre networks with countries such as the UK, Ireland, Italy and Germany trailing behind. According to the 2017 FTTH Ultrafast Broadband Country Ranking the UK has approximately 3% coverage. The market potential therefore is vast.

 

Learn how Enterprise Ireland can support your Innovation project here.

On demand dispatch delivers success for WeBringg

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When Alan Hickey forgot his wife’s birthday, it seemed like a disaster. In fact, it turned out to be a very good thing indeed. It gave him the idea for WeBringg, an on-demand crowdsourced delivery service.

 

Hickey set up the business with co-founder Sean Murray after a discussion about whether or not a delivery company already existed that could save the day by allowing him to buy a present online and have it delivered immediately.

Not possible, said Murray. Why not? said Hickey, in what proved to be their eureka moment.

 

WeBringg connects retailers and consumers

Hickey was a financial broker, while Murray’s background was in app development. While still employed in their day jobs, both worked nights and weekends to develop a crowdbased delivery platform to connect retailers and consumers.

WeBrinng co-founders

Martin Daly, LEO Fingal with WeBringg co-founders, Alan Hickey and Sean Murray

They launched in 2016, doing deliveries for local retailers themselves before landing a partnering deal with restaurant delivery operator Just Eat.

To support its growth, Local Enterprise Office Fingal referred WeBringg to Enterprise Ireland, who identified it as a High Potential Start Up. With its support, the company raised seed funding of €850,000.

What appealed to investors was its compelling offering. “If you wanted to be the largest logistics delivery business in the world, you would need billions of euro. The other way is to build and sell robust scalable software to any retailer in the world,” said Hickey.

“Rather than provide either an off the shelf delivery service, or an off the shelf software as a service (SaaS) product, we wanted to really partner with retailers.”

Providing dispatch software, operator services and consultancy allows it to differentiate itself in the markets it operates in.

 

Simplifying logistics for retailers

“We totally ‘get’ dispatch because we are a hybrid model spanning every vertical, through to last mile delivery, which we can do direct or through third-party delivery partners. And we help large-scale retailers, who have thousands of vans on the road, to optimise their existing fleet.”

It wins its business by understanding that retailers are expert at marketing and selling products, but not at logistics or last mile delivery. “So let us be that expert,” he said. “Last mile delivery is a totally new area of logistics. We have an opportunity to set the global standard for it.”

Today WeBringg operates in the UK, Spain, Australia and New Zealand and has a team of 38 staff, and more than 1000 independent drivers worldwide.

It has an annual run rate of €5 million a year and three revenue streams – providing crowd sourced deliveries directly to consumers, including for Just Eat; partnering with retailers such as Musgrave to provide dispatch technology; and providing data driven consultancy services to the retail and delivery sectors.

 

Working with Enterprise Ireland to go global

Working with Enterprise Ireland also helped WeBringg to develop its board, which it did by taking on experienced non-executive directors. “If we wanted to be a big global company, we had to start thinking like one,” he said.

While the UK was the business’s obvious first choice for exports, the Brexit vote provided an unexpected challenge. “With Brexit, we needed another market to expand into. Lots of companies go the Eurozone route but for language and cultural reasons, we decided there were more opportunities for us in Australia and New Zealand.”

Funding assistance for market research trips helped, including participation on an Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Australia. Being part of a high-level governmental trade delegation proved invaluable.

“We were able to take the CEO of Menulog out to dinner at the Sydney Opera House,” he said.

 “A dinner is just a dinner, but when you are introducing people to your Minister for Trade and Enterprise and the President of Ireland, that’s worth so much more.”

 

Partnering with the largest food ordering platform in Australia

WeBringg subsequently signed a partnership deal with Menulog, the largest food ordering platform in Australia, and opened an office in Brisbane.

In June 2018, it acquired Spatula, a spin-out of the University of Western Australia. “We knew we needed to take the software global and that we had gaps in our technology. These guys had unbelievable dispatch software but were not commercial,” he said.

Spatula has helped bring seamless real-time tracking for customers, enabling WeBringg to perfect its infrastructure as it grows, accelerates and expands worldwide. “It’s now our entire tech team, all our development comes from there,” he said.

WeBringg has continued growing in the UK market too, recently setting up a UK subsidiary in Scotland, to help mitigate the risk from Brexit. “If there is a hard Brexit we can transfer all the trade into that subsidiary.”

All along the way the company has benefited from a variety of Enterprise Ireland and Local Enterprise Office supports, with mentoring, funding, guidance and advice. Murray participated on a CEOs’ retreat too and that kind of networking is invaluable too, said Hickey, “because, if you haven’t experienced something, you can be sure someone else has.”

 

Irish companies build on UK construction success

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Donal Byrne, a senior development adviser for the construction industry at Enterprise Ireland, explains why Irish exporters in the sector are winning business in the UK.

There are high-potential opportunities for Irish exporters in the UK construction sector notwithstanding challenges posed by Brexit. Global Irish construction industry services and goods exports were valued at €1.7 billion in 2016, while the number of people employed by firms supported by Enterprise Ireland is projected to increase from 33,000 last year to 40,000 by 2020. For the offsite construction subsector, the UK accounts for the vast majority of Irish exports.

A harsh winter, rainy spring, and the collapse of Carillion in January, with write downs on bad loans estimated to have exceeded £1 billion, put a dampener on UK construction activity in the first quarter of the year. Analysts are nonetheless predicting a ‘hockey stick’ progression for the sector in 2018, similar to that experienced in 2017.

A seminar, organised by Enterprise Ireland in conjunction with the Irish Precast Concrete Association (IPCA), heard that the chief source of this optimism is the British government’s commitment to a £650 billion pipeline of construction projects. While market volatility may well cause a periodic dip in sales for distinct sectors and individual companies, overall demand in UK construction remains strong.

 

Opportunities in UK construction

Simon Rawlinson, Partner and Head of Strategic Research and Insight with Arcadis Design and Consultancy, and a member of the UK’s Construction Leadership Council, told the seminar that he sees opportunities for Irish construction industry companies in a range of areas, particularly in energy, waste, transport, telecommunications, and social housing and urban regeneration. 

The scheme with most potential is the HS2 high-speed rail link, with £55.7 billion budgeted for phases 1 and 2 of the project.

The British housing market is buoyant, noted Rawlinson, especially in regions outside London, notably Manchester and the Midlands.

A short-term skills shortage forecast for the UK industry can also benefit Irish offsite construction companies. The UK faces capacity issues due to significant remedial works required nationwide as a result of projects put on hold by the Carillion collapse resuming in catch-up mode. Brexit is also a factor, with many European workers leaving the UK.

There are particularly strong opportunities for building sector companies who are skilled in the use of digital design and building information modelling (BIM). There is also a new emphasis on optimising long-term product performance, using smart technology and the internet of things. In housing, offsite manufacturing and modular building are growth areas. 

  

How Enterprise Ireland supports construction industry exporters

Enterprise Ireland supports construction industry exporters in three key ways. We assist companies to improve existing products and to develop new solutions that meet market needs and deliver added value. We run programmes that help to develop a corporate culture of continuous improvement to increase productivity and reduce environmental impact and we run programmes focused on improving, and broadening, the capabilities of leadership teams.

We also run Brexit Advisory Clinics for exporters and provide eligible companies with grants of up to €5,000 to help them mitigate risks of potential impacts.

Even a soft Brexit may create new obstacles to navigate. For example, if Britain remains in the European Customs Union, additional paperwork will still be required of exporters at UK border crossings. Using a freight forwarding company and a customs brokerage can reduce logistical headaches but additional management time must still be set aside to instruct third parties.

Because border hold-ups will be more likely post-Brexit, exporters will need to factor in higher costs for delays in estimated delivery times. In the construction industry, where ‘just-in-time’ delivery is a feature of many supplier contracts, it may be necessary for exporters to invest in UK-based depots to hold goods temporarily before a specified delivery date. One option discussed at the seminar suggested that exporters could invest in joint warehousing facilities to reduce the cost burden on individual companies.

Brexit is a new obstacle to trade but is not insurmountable. Specialist expertise and high-quality products that address real needs will always find a market.

This article was originally published in the Sunday Independent.

map of Ireland

Competing for the future at International Markets Week

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Competing for the Future

Developing foreign markets can be daunting even for companies that are highly successful in their home market, the audience heard at Competing for the Future, a panel discussion organised as part of Enterprise Ireland’s International Markets Week programme.

“When you go abroad to foreign markets you are starting at ground zero, which is not an easy place to be,” said Harry Hughes, CEO of Mayo-based safety clothing and equipment company Portwest.  “It just takes time and you have to stay with it.”

Hughes has helped grow what was once a small family business with a turnover of €100,000 in 1978 into a €205 million a year business employing 3,000 staff. The UK was Portwest’s first export market and remains an important one, accounting for 40% of its sales, he said. However, by taking on new markets one at a time, the company now sells into 120 countries worldwide.

 

Top export insights from International Markets Week

He was joined onstage by Vivian Farrell, CEO of Shannon-based Modular Automation, a 32 year-old company that delivers advanced technological solutions to customers such as Johnson & Johnson, Boston Scientific, Stryker, and Medtronic.

Working with their manufacturing sites in Ireland provided Modular Automation with an entry point into the US market, which has transformed the business over the past five years, enabling it to double staff numbers to 150, Farrell said.

Delegates also heard from John Brophy, business development manager of PM Group, a leading project delivery company that works in engineering, architecture, and construction management.

The now 45 year-old company began developing export markets in earnest during the last recession. Today, while PM Group remains headquartered in Ireland, it has 17 offices around the world.

 

Fulfil your export potential

Complacency can make companies fail to fulfil their export potential, delegates heard. “We were probably very slow learners in the beginning, in that we were 25 years selling in Britain and had reached maturity in that market before, 15 years ago, we started looking into Europe,” said Hughes.

Portwest has taken a “one step at a time” approach to new markets since then, starting with the Netherlands, and then France. “There are only two ways to get sales, you can either buy them by purchasing a company in the market, or you can go out and build them yourself,” he said. Either way it costs money.

Modular Automation was able to leverage its multinational clients here and follow them overseas. International markets are now “hugely important in terms of reaching our ambitions for growth,” said Farrell.

“We’re investing heavily in R&D and innovation in Ireland and we see that as a catalyst for growth, in particular in the US.”

Read about Enterprise Ireland’s R&D and innovation supports

Three years ago, the company opened an office in Florida, both to service the sister sites of clients in Ireland and as a base to develop new customers. “That is our strategy for growth and it is working for us. But it’s only achievable if we do a good job for multinationals in Ireland, and critical to that is R&D and innovation.”

In 2007, PM group was faced with a diminishing home market. At the time, it had offices in Ireland, the UK, Russia and Poland, but the majority of its work was based in Ireland.

“In order to diversify, we had to look out, and mainland Europe was a very accessible market,” said Brophy. “We focused initially on Belgium, which was a massive market for many of our customers.”

 

Target opportunities in the Eurozone

Irish companies should view the eurozone as “a continuation of the domestic market,” said fellow panellist Julie Sinnamon, CEO of Enterprise Ireland. Doing so may require a “mindset shift” but having role model companies such as Portwest, Modular Automation and PM Group helps encourage other companies, she said.

That includes steps companies are taking in response to Brexit, such as Portwest’s decision to acquire 140,000 sq ft of warehousing in Poland, reducing its warehousing space in Britain. Regardless of the ultimate outcome of Brexit, such a move makes good business sense, said Hughes.

PM Group has also taken action to mitigate the risk of Brexit. It has responded by growing its footprint in the UK, acquiring a company there and adding two new offices, in Manchester and Edinburgh – “because no matter what, the UK is a big country and you need to have a regional presence,” he said.

It has also diversified into more sectors, including chemical and petrochemical, which the recent acquisition will help it to service. “So we have widened what we can do,” he said.

 

Act now in response to Brexit

Over the past year, companies have moved into action mode in response to Brexit, said Sinnamon. “Companies are beginning to invest in innovation and competitiveness to look at new markets. We are seeing a big increase in the level of demand for participation in trade missions and market study visits,” she said.

Mistakes will happen. In Portwest’s case, a key hire made in Ireland and relocated to Europe turned out not to be the right solution. “Now we employ French people in France, Germans in Germany, and so on. The boots on the ground need to be local,” said Hughes.

Innovation is key. “You really have to find a way to differentiate yourself from the competition. You can’t go in there and say ‘We’re here, isn’t that good enough?’,” said Brophy.

Julie Sinnamon agreed. “You are not going to conquer the world with me-too products. You have to have something that differentiates you,” she said, pointing to Enterprise Ireland’s Market Discovery Fund as a way of helping with costs, and its Agile Innovation Fund as a fast-track way of getting R&D support to ensure a product is fit for purpose in new market.

Above all, see the eurozone as a local market, delegates at International Markets Week were told. “We have the same currency and the same laws and there are no borders,” said Hughes. “You need to see it as a local market and get out there and invest.”

 

How R&D helps Reamda to protect the Irish Defence Forces

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The next time you see TV footage of the Irish Defence Forces dealing with a suspicious device at home in Ireland or in the Golan Heights, they will most likely be using equipment designed and manufactured in Tralee, by Irish company Reamda.

Reamda, which is an acronym for Robotic Electronic And Mechanical Development Agency’, was established by Padraig O’Connor in 2001, and since then has specialised in supplying military and engineering products to customers in both domestic and international markets. In particular, the company addresses the highly specialised field of robots for use in extremely hazardous situations, such as dealing with improvised explosive devices (IED) or evidence-gathering following a suspected chemical weapons attack.

“Padraig O’Connor had worked with a robotics company in Cork during the 1990s and when that company left Ireland he decided to set up Reamda,” explains R&D director, Julie Behan. “Our main customer is the Irish Defence Forces. When we started working with them, they were using HOBO robots to deal with suspicious devices. These were originally built in the 1970s and we got the contract to upgrade them to digital electronics.”

In 2012, the company won the contract to upgrade the mechanical aspects of the Defence Forces robots and this resulted in the development of the Reacher, Reamda’s latest robot. This highly versatile robot features a sliding turret and a low-profile arm, which can be manipulated into numerous positions, including over obstacles, below ground, and under vehicles.

Enterprise Ireland support derisked Reamda innovation project

Enterprise Ireland support was instrumental to the company’s success in winning that contract, according to Behan. “Over the years, we have received support from Enterprise Ireland in the form of Innovation Vouchers and an R&D grant,” she says. “The Innovation Vouchers allowed us to work on some small projects with the Institute of Technology Tralee. This resulted in us developing a relationship and we are now working with them in partnership on larger projects. We hadn’t made bigger platforms ourselves before winning this latest contract and the Enterprise Ireland support derisked the project. It allowed us to engage in the mechanical side of the robot and to spend the time and effort on its design and development.”

The new Reacher robot can be remote-controlled from up to 1 kilometre, with human operators shielded from harm. It also comes with a number of accessories and special features, one of which is a two-way drawer which can be used to house another Reamda device – the Remote Disruptor Robot (RDP).

“The Reacher has a payload bay which can carry a marsupial RDP robot and other tools and equipment,” says Behan. “The RDP was originally developed as an accessory to Hobo. It can go under vehicles to look for and disarm suspicious devices. It has a disruptor weapon on board which destroys the electronics in the device without detonating it.”

The Reacher is also armed with a disruptor and can carry sensors and forensic evidence-gathering tools into the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack. “We have been involved in a Horizon 2020 research project on forensic evidence-gathering using a robot platform,” Behan adds.

The company currently employs 20 staff, split roughly evenly between manufacturing and mechanical, electrical and software engineers involved in R&D. “Our main market has been the Irish Defence Forces up until now and we have been exporting through a channel partner in the UK who sells products around the world. We have also been exporting control systems to other robot manufacturers for the past 10 years. We will start looking in earnest for export markets for the Reacher once the Irish Defence Forces order has been delivered.”

From Wexford to the world – Sonru goes global

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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.

 

 

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

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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.

Key questions to ask at your UK Market Advisor meeting

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Enterprise Ireland is playing a key role in supporting ambitious companies seeking opportunities in the UK.

If you are considering doing business in the UK, please be sure to reach out to our team in London.

  • What are the associations and organisations I should be speaking to in the UK?
  • Who are the key stakeholders in my sector in the UK?
  • What are the major considerations for buyers in my sector in the UK beyond price?
  • How do I need to present my company in the UK to challenge domestic competition in the market?
  • Who are the potential competitors for my business in the market? How strong is their foothold in the market?
  • What are the differences between how my sector operates in Ireland vs the UK?
  • What is the post-Brexit outlook in the sector?
  • How are Irish companies viewed in the UK?
  • What are the benefits of a UK based office? virtual or physical?
  • What do I need to do to set up a UK registered company?
  • What are the key sources of UK market information in my sector?
  • What supports can Enterprise Ireland UK provide in the market?

For more, please reach out to the MA here and be sure to check out our Going Global Guide

Enterprise Ireland’s top tips for entering the US market

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Ireland enjoys a unique advantage in trading with the US because of our deep historical links, in fact, it is Ireland’s second-largest export market, with almost 800 Irish companies operating across the United States.

If you are considering doing business in the US, please be sure to explore our tips to enter the market below and also be sure to reach out to our dedicated team.

  • The US is the world’s largest economy and is it the most competitive market in the world. Ensure your value proposition is differentiated before you try to acquire customers.
  • The population of the State of Alabama is the same as the entire Republic of Ireland, while Ireland’s GDP is similar to that of Colorado. It may be of benefit to take a more regional approach to your US market development, and not just gravitate to the main cities and economic centres. Spend some time understanding where the largest market opportunity and highest concentration of your customers may be.
  • Building rapport is very important in the US. Spend time developing relationships with your key target customers/buyers.
  • Attention to detail is valued in US business culture. US buyers will expect high-quality sales & marketing collateral, and it’s important that your collateral is updated with US-specific grammar and spelling.
  • Approach the market with a “customer needs” perspective not a “product” or “technology” perspective. What is the problem you are trying to solve with your product or service?

For more be sure to check out our Going Global Guide 

If you would like to know what to prepare ahead of your first MA call, click the graphic below

Local Enterprise heroes

Following in the footsteps of Local Enterprise heroes

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For many companies, becoming an Enterprise Ireland client is a significant step on a journey that started at a regional level. Local Enterprise Offices throughout Ireland provide supports, advice and training to start-up companies and existing micro-enterprises of up to ten employees. It is in this environment that experience is gained and vital lessons are learned which allow companies to prepare for growth and to take their ambition global.

A recipe for successful growth to €21 million annual turnover

It was in 1993 that a young man from Clonakilty got in touch with his Local Enterprise Office (LEO) in West Cork to ask if they could help him turn his business idea into a reality. Diarmuid O’Sullivan wanted to produce traditional churn-made yogurts. He knew how to make yogurts but he didn’t have enough funding to get the venture off the ground.

“I had the idea but not enough money,” Diarmuid recalls. “I heard there was funding available from the Local Enterprise Office, so I contacted them and put in an application. The maximum support they could provide at the time was £50,000 and the LEO in Clonakilty was able to help me put my ideas into a business plan to help secure funding.

“I also received quite a lot of mentoring and coaching. That was all done at concept stage – I hadn’t even identified a production site – but the support meant that I was able to get Irish Yogurts up and running by March 1994.”

Diarmuid’s yogurt-making idea was a recipe for success. His company grew quickly and its products were soon on the shelves of Irish food shops and supermarkets.

“In one of those early years, we grew by about 78.5%. That brought its own challenges, with regard to working capital. The Local Enterprise Office suggested that I move onto Enterprise Ireland, where there were financial supports for fast-growing companies which were creating jobs.

“We hadn’t really focused on exports, not at that stage. That came after we started working with Enterprise Ireland. Our first export customer in the UK was Tesco.”

This progress was recognised in 1998, when Irish Yogurts was named winner of Ireland’s first ever National Enterprise Award. In just a few years, it had gone from being a bright idea with insufficient funding to becoming an award-winning food producer.

Today, Irish Yogurts employs 160 people at its Clonakilty base and sells to every major supermarket chain in the UK and Ireland. Its annual turnover has grown from €300,000 to €21 million, with exports accounting for 30% of their business.

“We appreciate the input of the Local Enterprise Office and Enterprise Ireland, who supported us and our staff every step of the way,” Diarmuid says. “We still work with them and avail of supports and advice. Enterprise Ireland is very much a part of our team.”

A roll of honour

Irish Yogurts is one of hundreds of companies from every corner of Ireland that have transferred from Local Enterprise Office support to become Enterprise Ireland clients. Last year, 80 companies made the move. In 2016, the figure was 40. The roll of honour includes 10 other former winners of the National Enterprise Awards:

It is a track record that the Local Enterprise Offices are proud of. Oisín Geoghegan, chair of the network of Local Enterprise Offices, said, “It’s one of our targets to transfer companies to Enterprise Ireland – it’s progression. Companies which transfer into Enterprise Ireland are companies with growth ambitions to be exporting and creating jobs, which is incredibly important, particularly for the regions. So we would see it as an indicator of success when a company moves on to Enterprise Ireland.”

Local expertise supporting global ambition

Engineering services provider Obelisk engaged with their Local Enterprise Office in Cavan, even before they set up the company in 1996. Four years later, Obelisk won the National Enterprise Award.

Founder director Colm Murphy said, “We were looking to capitalise on the growth of mobile phone usage by offering installation services for operators. The people in our LEO understood the idea that opportunity was coming down the track. That gave us the confidence that our idea was good and could to grow into something big.

“They had an incubator office which we were able to rent and provided grant aid for early employees. They also provided us with advice about how to set up a company, and other supports such as training and mentoring – there was a lot more to it than financial support.”

The support has been paying off ever since, Colm says. “Last year we turned over €27 million. Employee numbers are between 250 and 300 people. We’ve expanded to include infrastructure solutions for fixed telecoms and the energy sector in Ireland, the UK, and South Africa.

“We want to continue growing. We’re looking for further investment. Over the next two to three years, we’re looking to hit the €100 million mark in sales. Exports are currently a third of our turnover but we expect that to become a 50/50 split.”

So what part did being able to access business expertise and support at a local level play in the company’s success? “Back in 1996-97, we would have found it difficult to kick-off from a zero base,” Colm explains. “We were just a couple of guys with an idea, and sometimes going for funding and that kind of stuff can be daunting. But when you get the kind of support that we did from the Local Enterprise Office, that’s a massive kick start.

“I would recommend that any company should be in touch with their Local Enterprise Office. They’ve always been good at describing the product set they have and how they support you. If you don’t ask, you don’t get and if you’re not engaging with them then you won’t necessarily be aware of new supports that are on offer.”

Reassurance and support

The view that “if you don’t ask then you won’t get” is shared by John Lynch, Chief Technology Officer of Acutrace. The Dublin tech company provides software and hardware which allows companies to control and monitor their energy usage. They count the likes of Google, Twitter and IBM among their customers.

Founded in 2015, Acutrace wasted no time in contacting their Local Enterprise Office in South Dublin. John says, “We reached out to the Local Enterprise Office immediately and they were brilliant. They gave us an employment grants and we managed to employ two engineers under that scheme. Within the first three months, we were exporting to London.

The company was growing quickly and the Local Enterprise Office was instrumental in steering Acutrace towards Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start-up (HPSU) programme.

John says, “Once we learned the criteria for the HPSU, we used that as our yardstick to reach for. We knew we had to have significant exports, we knew we had to have a scalable product that would generate employment and we needed to have the magic number of a turnover of €1 million, so it was a good objective to hit and we exceeded the target that year.

“By the end of 2016, we had turned over more than €1.5 million and we were exporting 40% of a product that was created in Ireland to the UK.”

The advice, professional support and reassurance they received has left a lasting impression on John and Acutrace.

He says, “I’m coming off the back of 20 years in the industry and so is my business partner Aidan, but it’s a little bit different when it’s your own enterprise – the risks are higher and there’s an isolation you feel, it can be profound. Then you engage with your Local Enterprise Office and you feel part of something, that you’re being protected or mentored.

“There’s funding and that’s important, but it’s also having that extra bit of confidence that there’s someone else behind you who has your back, that if you are going to create employment, well there’s someone there who’s grateful for that and they’re helping you, and they’re encouraging you.”

“You might be destined for Enterprise Ireland but until you hit that criteria the LEOs will mentor you and steer you in the right direction.”

Working hand in hand

That direction involves advice and supports, which evolve and change to meet the needs of encouraging start-up companies and other micro enterprises of ten or fewer employees, says Oisín Geoghegan.

“We provide a very broad range of supports – initial business advice, information and guidance, training and mentoring, and financial supports such as feasibility, priming or expansion grants. It can include money to employ people or towards marketing costs, business development, and so on.

“We also point entrepreneurs and companies in the direction of other supports that are available, such as the New Frontiers incubation programme and Innovation Vouchers from other agencies such as Failte Ireland, Intreo, Bord Bia and Microfinance Ireland.”

“For companies with strong growth ambitions, we work hand in hand with Enterprise Ireland on their journey and ensure that they make that contact at an appropriate stage so their development continues to be supported.”

KTL Lean transformation

When KTL targeted growth, they focused on competitiveness

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KTL Lean transformation

“..agility can come at a significant cost to the bottom line. Lean allowed us to optimise and standardise most key business processes.”

Niall Byrne, Director KTL

Key Takeouts:

  • KTL is a leading provider of engineering services to the telecommunications and utility sectors.
  • By implementing Enterprise Ireland’s Lean transformation programme, KTL has increased turnover by 30% in the last four years.
  • After standardising their customer acceptance process, KTL allowed customers to onboard solutions much faster and more efficiently, which vastly improved their competitiveness.

Case Study: KTL

Enhanced competitiveness has enabled engineering services firm KTL to achieve significant gains in both turnover and profitability. Since implementing an Enterprise Ireland-supported Lean transformation programme four years ago, turnover has increased by 30% to €40 million, while 1.5% has been added to net margins.

The Naas-headquartered company currently employs 300 people and is recognised as a leading provider of engineering services to the telecommunications and utility sectors, working primarily with mobile network operators, electricity network operators, and major equipment vendors. With operations in Ireland and the UK, KTL’s reach extends to projects in Europe and Latin America.

“We came from small beginnings,” says Director, Niall Byrne. “The company was founded in 1998, as a small civil contractor working out of a house and yard in Maynooth with 15 people. We started out just as the mobile networks were beginning to take off and we were well positioned to serve that market. I’m not sure if we fully realised that at the time. Digifone was our first mobile network customer and we added Vodafone shortly after that. We then moved into power infrastructure.”

Today, KTL works with leading blue-chip clients in the UK and Ireland, including Vodafone, Three, Telefonica, EE, ESB, Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE), and SSE Renewables.

“We see ourselves as a design and build partner for our customers when they are upgrading their networks or installing new technologies,” Byrne points out. “Our focus is on delivering value to customers. We have been an innovative company since we started and have always looked for ways to improve. We began working with Enterprise Ireland in 2008, when we were starting out on our international journey. We worked with them on market research and feasibility studies at that stage.”

Plans for growth inspired focus on operational excellence

In subsequent years, Enterprise Ireland also assisted the company in the implementation of growth plans.

These growth plans led the company to seek ways of improving its competitive position. “We stood back and took a look at the business and at our competitiveness and capability,” Byrne adds. “With the support of Enterprise Ireland, we embarked on a LEAN transformation programme in 2014. We had always tried to be an agile company. We have to be, because we work in a very fast-moving sector. But that agility can come at a significant cost to the bottom line. Lean allowed us to optimise and standardise most key business processes.”

The best example of the benefits of the Lean programme is the customer acceptance process, according to Byrne. “On the face of it, it’s different for every customer and project. It’s a highly complex, 100+ page document for each individual site, of which there are thousands in a mobile network. Anyone who has experience of it will tell you how challenging and time-consuming the whole process is. But when we looked at it and peeled the skin off, we saw how much of it could be standardised. We figured out an innovative approach to it and we also developed a software tool, Infratrack, to do it.”

That sped up the process greatly for KTL and allowed customers to onboard solutions much faster and more efficiently. Other benefits of the Lean transformation programme included a significant reduction in site visits, a 14.7% reduction in expenses through the introduction of a fleet management solution, a 13% reduction in employee turnover, and a 35% reduction in lead time in various processes within the business, including invoicing and purchase order generation.

“It improved our competitiveness, and that enabled us to acquire additional customers and improve our profitability at the same time,” says Byrne.

For the future, he believes that ongoing growth in the mobile market, with 5G coming down the line and continued network renewal by the power companies, will deliver opportunities for the company. “We will continue to develop our fantastic team,” he adds. “We are a service company and our competitive position relies on a talented, experienced, loyal pool of people. We are nothing without our fantastic team. Enterprise Ireland has also been a key part of the team, which enabled us to internationalise and expand the business.”

Learn more about Enterprise Ireland’s Competitiveness supports here.