008 Noticeboard
Irish pharma service providers add Germany to their target list
rish exporters will be adding to the buzz of the 30th ACHEMA chemical engineering congress in Frankfurt this June. Held every year since 1923, Achema is now Germanys lead event of its kind, and, this year, 10 Irish companies exhibiting.
The Irish rule in UK boardrooms
ts ofcial: Irish ex-pats continue to top the list of UKbased company directors. The annual research, commissioned by Eulogy!, the largest Irishowned communications agency in the UK, reveals that Irish directors make up 16% of the total number of non-British directors in the UK. The actual number of Irish directors has grown year-on-year by over 9%, according to the PR agency.
THE AQUAMONITRIX DEVICE
In the Engineering Hall, there will be ve companies on the Enterprise Ireland stand: two clean-room design and engineering companies Ardmac and Clearesphere, two specialist door manufacturers Dortek and Fireblock and the IT process engineering rm Zenith Technology. Elsewhere, in the Analytics Hall, T.E. Laboratories (AKA Tellab) is launching its AquaMonitrix device. A microuidic platform, using reagent-based chemistry, AquaMonitrix can perform in-situ calibration and high frequency measurements over long deployment periods and the device is portable and robust enough for deployment
THE MARKET | SUMMER 2012
in streams, rivers and drinkingwater piping. Meanwhile, Innopharmas new particle-imaging system, eyecon, will be on display at the stand of Solvias, a Swiss chemical engineering consultancy that recently signed a partnership agreement with the Dublin rm to oversee the sale and insta installation of eyecon and eyemap. The partn partnership gives us the benet of Solv Solviass scale and their contacts in the industry, said Innopha Innopharma CEO Ian Jones. We a already very are busy with inst installations in Spain, Belgium and Austria. We employ 12 people an expect to have and turnover of 2 this year. 2m The other three Irish rms exhibiting are the high-purity process syst system designer and installer BCD Engineering, the packaging rm Prodieco and containment and sampling equipment manufacturer ProSys, which recently moved into new larger premises in Carrigtohill, Co. Cork, and increased its workforce there. Irish exporters can expect the German pharma market to continue to grow over the next few years, but the pace of growth will be slow, says Samina Siddiqui, Enterprise Irelands market executive for lifesciences in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. One area of opportunity is in the refurbishment and renewal of existing production facilities, she said. There is a reluctance here to switch production to low-cost labour markets, because there is a perception that the same savings can be made at existing locations by doing things more efciently.
Kick start your Asian market with the Farmleigh Fellowship
he Farmleigh Fellowship is currently gearing up to start taking applications for 2013, providing an opportunity for Irish businesses to sponsor a young professional, typically with about three years postgraduate experience, who will in turn work on market research and developing a network of contacts for the company in Asia. Kicking off in January 2013, the MBS aims to place candidates on a one year work-study programme, with their time split between generating a live Asian business development report for the sponsoring company and studying for a Masters in Asian Business, awarded by UCC and delivered in partnership with Nanyang Business School at NTU, Singapore. During this time, the young professionals are supervised by industry and academia and assigned an experienced business mentor from the local Irish diaspora. Sponsorship costs a company 20,000 for the year, with additional support coming from the Department of Foreign Affairs, while the graduate covers their own day-to-day living and accommodation costs, ensuring strong motivation and
commitment from applicants. The companies identify a market project for the participants, explains Donagh Fitzgerald, who is based in Singapore. It could be anything from exploring market opportunities for a project management company in China, to writing a HR policy for local staff in your Thai ofce, or assessing opportunities in Korea. For Irish companies, trying to set up in this part of the world, its very daunting and very expensive, he says. First you need to have market data; then you need to start making connections and building a network of contacts in the Asian context, and nally you need to put shoe leather on the ground. The fellowship ticks all three boxes. Its like having an aircraft parked off the coast of Asia and being able to hop on and off to explore the market. The concept for the MBS programme, which grew out of the rst Global Irish Forum at Farmleigh, was the brainchild of two Irish entrepreneurs Gerry Creaner, Deputy Chairman of DPS Engineering, and Fred Combe, an angel investor, with two start-ups currently taking off. See www. [Link].