West Enterprise Case Studies

Paul saw the quality of life and lower costs, combined with access to skilled and experienced professionals with similar priorities and outlook, as key reasons for relocating the business to the West.

“My wife grew up outside Limerick, but apart from that I had no connections with the Western Region.  Our location has proved very attractive to a particular profile of skilled and experienced employee that increasingly exists in the Irish labour market.  There is a growing number of people in this segment that have worked internationally or in Dublin, and for whom quality of life and work is more important than top-dollar salaries”, Paul says.

“We currently rent our premises but are in the process of deciding to buy.  The anticipated purchase cost of the options we are evaluating will allow us to have a larger, better building in a better location than we could ever conceive in Dublin.”

The company has grown steadily over the last 10 years and it anticipates that growth will continue in the foreseeable future.  “The vast majority of our graduate recruitment has come from local colleges and universities.  There is no shortage of qualified candidates who want to stay in the area they grew up in or where they went to college.

“Technology infrastructure is very important in our sector.  There are good broadband facilities in our current location but there are some locations relatively close to Ennis that (surprisingly) don’t have DSL-enabled exchanges”, he added.

Shannon Airport is located just 16 miles from the company’s offices and has proved very convenient for when the company has international clients and for its international staff when they travel home.

Training by way of linking in with Western ICT Skillsnet and funding from Shannon Development for market research and product development have been added advantages that the company has been able to avail of.

“For all intents and purposes, the business has always been in Ennis.  When founded in Dublin, it was clear that the cost base, both in terms of qualified people and appropriate office space, was prohibitive and infrastructural issues contributed to the negative.

“Some of our staff moved back to Ennis after living away from home - but it’s not always easy to find a suitable job for everyone as there aren’t as many job opportunities in the West as you would find in a large city.  For example, one of our members of staff moved back to Ennis after working in Dublin for 5 years and is fully settled here while another member of staff moved back to Ennis after working in America for 5 years.  However, he had to move back to America as his wife could not find an appropriate job that suited her skill set.

“Our staff live in rural townlands, small villages, suburbs of Ennis, Ennis itself and Shannon.  On the leisure and amenity side of things, the Atlantic is only 30 minutes away (surfing in Lahinch is a big draw), lakes, woodlands, a great swimming pool and the leisure centre in Ennis, golf, great theatre in Ennis (Glór), good schools etc. – they are all convenient when you want them”, he concludes.