The Local Enterprise Office (LEO) network of offices champions businesses of all sizes through its through its training programmes and access to grants. This expertise helps many grow and prosper.
Across the nation these offices are open for business. LEO Green for Business, Digital for Business and Lean for Business programmes enable companies to make productivity improvements, energy efficiency gains, and other enhancements to their competitiveness.
One company that has participated in all of the above programmes and has benefited from LEO support over a long period is Ennis based AIP Thermoform.
The County Clare company currently employs seven people in the design and manufacture of customised thermoformed packaging such as clamshells, transportation trays and presentation inserts for a wide variety of customers ranging from private SMEs to the global multinationals in the electronics, pharmaceutical and retail sectors. Those customers include Kostal, LEO, Valeo, Molex, and EI Electronics.
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The company was established in Cornamona, Co Galway in 1998 and was acquired from its Belgian founders by current owner and managing director John Mulleady in a management buyout in 2002. “I moved the company to Ennis in 2009 to be closer to our customer base,” says Mulleady.
Highly specialised manufacturing
The company operates in a highly specialised area. “It’s a niche sector and there are very few players in the area,” he explains. “Our customers produce small, high value items. These include cameras for the automotive industry for Valeo and PCP boards for Kostal. We design the packaging to match the shape and size of the product. It might also include functionality to enable the packaging to be incorporated in the customer’s production line. Customer needs change all the time, and we have to constantly come up with new designs. We work very, very closely with our customers. There are lots of design changes before you get to a final product that the client will sign off on and that we can start shipping.”
AIP has been working with the Clare Local Enterprise Office since 2010. “We have participated in a number of their training programmes including Lean for Business, Digital for Business, and Green for Business,” says Mulleady. “To be honest, I felt we ran quite a tight ship here before we did the lean programme. I thought the report from the consultant would validate that. But that wasn’t the case. The consultant noted our focus was on keeping the machines running. That meant we had too much stock on the premises. We were making product that we couldn’t ship that week and building inventory and putting pressure on our warehouse capacity.”
To be honest, I felt we ran quite a tight ship here before we did the lean programme . But that wasn’t the case
An empty warehouse is not a bad thing for a business, he explains. “Having everything out in the market and getting paid for it is a good thing. Having money sitting in a full warehouse where it could be used elsewhere is not good. We now focus on what we can make and ship today. There is an awful lot in Lean. It’s something you have to work on every day.”
The Digital for Business programme assisted with further efficiencies. “It gave us the opportunity to put a focus on our material consumption by getting real time production data from the floor on the conversion rate of raw material to goods. We strive for 100 per cent. That’s quite a lofty ambition but it’s the target we have set for ourselves to go for.”
The Green for Business programme looked at energy efficiency improvement. “That’s something we do anyway,” Mulleady says. “We also identified a potential saving by installing solar panels. We want to do that but haven’t got to it yet. We need to be able to sell the electricity back to the grid when we are not using it, but that facility has only been in place for the last couple of months.”
The company also benefited from a business expansion grant. “Overall, the LEO has been extremely useful to us over the years. If anyone wants to get into business, the LEO should definitely be their first port of call. We deal with a number of people in the office, and they are all extremely helpful. If you are thinking of doing anything new in your business, it’s definitely worth having a chat with them.”
Looking ahead to 2024 and beyond, John Magee, head of enterprise and economic development with Mayo Local Enterprise Office and chair of the Local Enterprise Office Network, says businesses will have to maintain their focus on productivity and growth. “We will support them to innovate and realise their ambitions,” he says. “We are trying to identify companies that have an ambition to internationalise so that we can help them on that journey.”
It is, he says, all in a day’s work.
How can your organisation find out more?
The nationwide network of 31 Local Enterprise Offices works with entrepreneurs and small businesses providing support to start or grow an enterprise. For anyone with a business idea or who is looking to make the jump to starting their own business, or who is thinking about expanding an existing small firm, the LEOs are an essential first-stop-shop which can provide training, mentoring, incubation space, funding and general advice.
“The support ecosystem is quite complex and there are lots of bodies out there providing assistance to businesses, but the LEO should be the first stop,” says JMagee,. “LEOs can help entrepreneurs with an idea to get their business off the ground and support them right the way through to starting to export and moving on to becoming an Enterprise Ireland client.”
Training is a key component of the LEO offer. “Over 4,500 people did start your own business courses provided by LEOs during the past year,” Magee points out. “We also provide training in areas such as marketing your business in a digital world as well as in business finances. We support the idea and the entrepreneur.”
The LEOs also offer a range of financial supports including feasibility grants, business expansion grants, and R&D funding. These are principally aimed at manufacturing companies and those which are trading internationally.
Magee points to an important recent change in the LEOs’ mandate. “It has been expanded to include companies with up to 50 employees that have an agenda to grow and scale internationally. Heretofore, it was limited to companies with up to 10 employees.”
Companies faced something of a cliff edge when they grew beyond that point. “That created a bit of uncertainty around the availability of further support,” he says. “This allows for a smooth transition from LEO to Enterprise Ireland support.”
According to Magee, the key focus for the LEOs at present is on supporting client firms to improve productivity levels. “Firms are struggling to hold onto staff,” he points out. “We are now at a point they are describing as beyond full employment. Companies are very busy, customer demand is strong, and the economy is performing very well. They need to focus on productivity and where they can become more competitive.”
To find out more about the range of grants and programmes available to help your business save time, money and energy including LEO Green for Business, Digital for Business and Lean for Business click here