Mayo firm set to expand its workforce
Mayo firm PanelDuct, winner of the overall Innovation of the Year award at The Irish Times InterTradeIreland Innovation Awards 2015, is set to expand its workforce.
The company, which is based in Ballinrobe, took first place in the manufacturing category and went on to compete against five other category winners to win the top award at the weekend.
PanelDuct is a groundbreaking product which is set to revolutionise the installation of ventilation ducts in major building projects nationally and internationally, significantly cutting both the parts and installation costs involved.
As overall winner, PanelDuct will receive a communications and advertising package from The Irish Times worth €150,000, along with a UCD Smurfit Business School scholarship for an Executive Education programme commencing in 2016 and a state of the art laptop.
The awards were attended by Northern Ireland’s Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Arlene Foster, at a ceremony attended by over 220 guests at Belfast City Hall.
PanelDuct provides an ingenious one step solution to the installation of ductwork. Traditionally this is manually fabricated in a workshop and shipped to the site. It is then installed in bulk format before being wrapped with insulation and externally cladded for protection. That’s three separate and costly operations.
By contrast, PanelDuct is pre-insulated in an automated process; it is supplied in modular flat panel format to minimise transport costs and is installed in just one operation as the panels click together onsite. Furthermore air tightness is assured due to integral compression seals.
Conal O’Neill, the company’s research and development manager, said the response to the European launch of PanelDuct at a recent trade show in Frankfurt was overwhelmingly positive.
“From the launch we now have firm leads for distribution and sales in over 50 countries. We are currently negotiating distribution agreements with major wholesalers across Europe and the Middle East. Our main challenge now will be meeting that demand.
“While we currently employ four people, given the success of our European launch we intend to employ 10 more before end of the year and a further 20 next year.”