Irish engineering company Kirby Group is to create 50 new jobs with the opening of a new €8 million manufacturing facility in Co Laois.
Kirby Group Engineering focuses on electrical and mechanical engineering, working for clients in the life sciences, data centre, industrial, power and renewables businesses.
In a statement on Friday, it said its new off-site manufacturing facility in Portlaoise would be “key to the continuing growth of the company” as it manufactures a range of components for projects across Ireland, Britain, and mainland Europe.
Kirby currently employs more than 1,800 people, and the Limerick-headquartered firm said it is on track to “record revenue” of more than €700 million in 2024.
About 20 people are already working at the Portlaoise facility and Kirby expects that figure to reach 50 by the end of next year.
The team provides fabrication, welding, engineering and building information modelling services. It also features a dedicated clean room to facilitate “high purity pipework, as required by many of Kirby’s high-tech clients”.
Components built at the Portlaoise plant will be transported to sites across all jurisdictions that Kirby operates in, the company said.
Group chief executive Mark Flanagan said off-site manufacturing is in “high demand” among customers and, in particular, among “a number of global IT leaders”.
“Off-site manufacturing provides incredible savings when it comes to hours on site, equipment on site, scheduling control, quality control and of course health and safety,” he said. “We now aim to complete 25 per cent of our projects through prefabricated methods and this facility is central to that target.”
Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke said the facility “will be integral to projects under way all over Europe and I’d like to wish the team the very best for the future”.
