By Jim O’Connell, sales manager, Emmegi (UK)

While confidence in the UK window and door sector has been hit by the impact of high inflation and rising interest rates over recent months, the Irish market continues to defy expectations – with a government committed to house building and an economy enjoying an ongoing Brexit dividend.

That’s turning out to be very good news for Emmegi (UK), and we are seeing demand for our range of aluminium and now PVC-U machinery in Ireland almost at record levels.

Emmegi (UK) has had a direct presence in Ireland since 2015 when I was first recruited to head up sales. Prior to that the UK sales team serviced the Irish market, but Emmegi (UK)’s managing director, Ian Latimer, recognised that this was a market with huge potential that needed its own locally based team.

At that point, Ireland was still recovering from the highly damaging 2008 economic crash, but the country’s favourable corporation tax policy was attracting huge amounts of inward investment and lots of US multinationals were setting up and driving demand for commercial and office space as well as homes.

With this in mind, Emmegi (UK) initially focused on the established facade companies that were building that new commercial office space and we enjoyed a lot of success. At the same time, the Irish window and door market was starting to shift more towards aluminium products, so our timing was just about perfect.

Our approach continues to pay dividends. For instance, it was Alucraft, a leading commercial glazing specialist based in Dublin, that earlier this year took delivery of the very first new model Satellite XTE supplied by Emmegi (UK). And it came almost 20 years after Alucraft bought their first CNC, a Satellite XL, reflecting our strong, ongoing relationship.

Interest rates are rising here just as they are in the UK, which is having some impact on the housing market, and we both face similar skills shortages and recruitment issues. However, the government’s commitment to increasing the housing stock, backed by incredibly strong corporation tax revenues, means there is still an underlying confidence that the future looks bright.

Part of that confidence certainly comes from the benefits we continue to see from Brexit – particularly in the North of Ireland. While it’s a divisive issue politically in the North, there’s no denying the Brexit dividend. Because of its unique position having a land border with an EU nation and being part of the UK, companies based in Northern Ireland can easily sell into both markets. We have seen our customers McMullen Facades and Clarke facades diving into the export market with huge success.

The underlying strength in the Irish housing market also gives us plenty of scope to market the Someco brand of PVC products, which now come under the same umbrella brand as Emmegi (UK). We have already sold our first Someco SVL4H/2A welding and cleaning line and this is being delivered soon along with some 5-head inline welders. I feel strongly that Someco could be a game changer for us.

As well as the breadth and quality of our machine range, much of our success in Ireland comes down to our engineering department. Managed from the head office in Coventry by Wayne Hunter and Tracy O’Callaghan, our Irish based technicians Paul Adams and Paul Gleeson have established themselves as a dynamic team fully committed to their clients. Over 90% of the time one of the guys will be on site within 24 hours of a problem developing to resolve any issues and that service is warmly appreciated by all our customers.

The engineering team and I also of course work hard to build strong relationships with systems companies like AMS, Reynaers and Profile Systems. Understanding the technical aspects of each individual system means we can easily tailor our machines to suit the specific requirements of their fabricator.

The past eight years have been hugely successful for us here and, going forward, customers can expect more of the same.