Teleflex senior leadership team and local dignitaries cutting the ribbon with Minister Sean Canney and Liam Kelly Chief Operating Officer, Teleflex.

Teleflex promises more jobs at its official opening

THE TELEFLEX medical devices plant in Athlone is continue to recruit highly skilled employees, its official opening in the town heard.

A year after ground was broken on the new plant, the Minister with responsibility for the OPW Deputy Seán Canney officially opened the plant at the IDA Business and Technology Park in Garrycastle this week.

Currently there are 207 employees based in the Athlone facility which is located in the IDA Business Park in Garrycastle and the new building was established to consolidate all the local operations in one location.

It is kitted out for 240 staff, with the potential to expand to 350. The company’s international headquarters is in Pennsylvania.

Teleflex makes vital products for critical care and surgery and the Athlone site is the location for global operations, global quality assurance and a number of centres of excellence including IT, Accounting and Finance Advanced Engineering, International Marketing and Human Resources.

Jobs have been and continue to be recruited in a number of areas including customer service, administration, finance, human resources and research and development.

The new building represents a €13.5 million expansion by the company, which shows confidence in the Athlone area, according to the company.

The Vice-President of HR and Global Talent Development Monika Vikander-Hegarty said the official opening of the state-of-the-art building marked another chapter for Teleflex which initially employed just seven people when it first arrived in Athlone nine years ago.

 “We have kitted it out on the basis that we will be adding more staff,” she said.

“The global purchasing and supply chain are here and we have invested in our research and development facility.

“A year ago we announced 100 jobs. 60 of those are in place. We are building to 240 and beyond,” she said.

The company is currently recruiting in a number of areas, in what she described as “high end jobs”.

“It is exciting. It is a big investment for us,” she said.

Athlone was selected, she said, because of the good relationship the company built up with the IDA. “We came here originally because of the partnership we had with the IDA. Once we got good support we came to the juncture, would we continue here or move to Galway or Dublin?” she said.

“We had such a good base of employees we decided to stay here and have one site. We find that the best ability we have is when we have local talent that are motivated to stay here,” she said.

“We are here because of the talent. That’s why we want to maintain ourselves here,” she added.

The company is committed to the midlands region, she said, in addition to their plant in Limerick where 170 staff are employed and where a new innovation centre was opened last year.

“Our business is growing. We have a great base here in Ireland. We are committed to this facility.”

Chief Operating Officer Liam Kelly said the investment “will enable us to continue our relationship with the midlands”.

Mr Kelly said that the company – which employs 12,000 globally, 470 of who are based in Ireland – was doing well and recorded global revenues to €1.85 billion in the 12 months up to September.

“We are well diversed. We are not dependent on any one market or procedure,” he said.

The Divisional Manager of the IDA Frank Conlon said the investment marked “a key step in the growth and development of the company”.

“The building truly achieves the best that there is in international standards. The IDA will come knocking on the door of Teleflex to showpiece all that  you have here. It is a showcase for marketing the region,” he said.

He said that while competition for foreign direct investment is intense, the AIT plays a vital role in providing skilled, talented graduates.

Minister Canney noted that employment increased from seven to 200 against the backdrop of a “challenging economic background both globally and nationally”. He said that the Life Sciences sector is impressive at the moment, adding: “Seeing a company like Teleflex expand its facility gives confidence to other potential investors.”

The Minister said he was impressed by the “style, architecture and construction of the project” which was completed by Rattigan Construction.

The mayor of Athlone Councillor John Dolan told those who attended the opening of the new building that the “expansion has been rapid in the Athlone arm of Teleflex”.

“Athlone has become a pharma type hub for a number of reasons. We have a pool of talented graduates from AIT. We are lucky to have a third-level institute with such an excellent reputation,” he said.