Jobs boost from Tullamore firm’s €15m contract
Some 20 new jobs are to be created at Tullamore firm McDonald International after it secured a €15 million contract to manufacture a recycling system for installation in England.
The news is a welcome boost for the local economy and represents the biggest contract ever landed by the long-established company led by John McDonald.
The manufacturing and engineering firm employs just over 50 people, and John told the Offaly Independent that over the next six weeks or so 20 additional staff would be recruited in design and manufacturing roles.
Having operated in quarrying and concrete, McDonald International began to focus more on developing plants for the waste and recycling following the global recession in 2008.
John said the company is now one of the top manufacturers of recycling plants for the UK, a status further enhanced by this €15m deal.
The 11-month contract is with an English company and involves a recycling plant that will be designed and manufactured locally before being shipped for installation at a location north of London.
John paid tribute to his "excellent" staff for their work over the years and for their efforts in helping to secure this deal.
"It's our biggest contract and it took us quite a long time to get the job. With something like this, you could be working at it for almost a year, but we have very good staff to negotiate and design a plant a like this, and thankfully we impressed (the English company)."
In addition to manufacturing recycling plants in the UK, McDonald International has operated in other countries such as Germany and France. Interestingly, John mentioned that the company could be doing business in Iraq in the not-too-distant future.
"We have a couple of contacts in Iraq - Irish guys who are engineers out there - who have come to us. At the moment we're working on some proposals for these guys. You always have to be looking (for the next opportunity) and, for us, things are going to happen in Iraq, I'd say."
He said the company was proud of its locality and has no plans to move its base out of Tullamore.
"Several times we've been asked 'why don't you manufacture over in the UK?' but I'm a Tullamore man, I played football for Durrow in my younger days, and I want to stay in Tullamore," he stated.
"We design and manufacture here and then we ship it out to the UK. We would have at least 30 articulated lorry loads in one job alone. So, it's quite big, but we're happy to manufacture in Tullamore and it's where we want to stay."