National Award for Roscommon Company By Angela Doyle Roscommon
Herald - November 2001
A Roscommon town company owned and managed by two local
brothers scored a remarkable "first" for the county by winning
the National Enterprise Award - and the right to represent
the country at World level - last week.
Midland Precision Tool & Die Ltd., employs 10 people at
it's plant in Lisnamult, Roscommon town, and is the first
firm from the county to win this prestigious award which is
organized annually by city & county enterprise boards all
over the country.
The award was presented to the Roscommon brothers John &
George McCourt by Minister for Science, Technology & Commerce
Noel Treacy.
Midland Precision Tool & Die design and
manufacture tooling for the Thermoforming and Vacuumforming industry.
The company targets blue chip companies in the medical,
pharmaceutical, electronics and retail sectors, where it can
supply tooling for innovative packaging in such areas as
medical devices, PCB transport trays, clamshells, and retail
product packaging.
The National Awards scheme is open to all companies assisted
by local city & county enterprise boards. Ann Flynn, Chief
Executive Officer of Roscommon County Enterprise Board, commented
that she was "delighted with the win not alone for the company
but for the county as a whole".
"It is a great acknowledgement of the company's performance
since it's inception and an endorsement of the important role
of the County Enterprise Board in supporting micro - enterprise
in the county " Ms Flynn continued.
In addition to the award - emerging ahead of 28 other companies
in the process - and the National prize of £3,000, Midland
Precision will represent Ireland in the World Final in
October 2002 during which they will compete with companies from over
40 countries.
George McCourt told the Herald that he, his brother and his
staff were delighted with the award and thrilled that a Roscommon
company had received national recognition for innovation and
enterprise.
The McCourt brothers - John has a background in tool making
and design while George is an electronics engineer who has
also specialized in management - first set up Midland Precision
in March 1999. For them, however, actually getting the company
up & running was just one step in a long process from concept
to success.
As George explained:" We started off by doing a lot of research
to see where there was an opportunity to fill a niche market
without competing with existing producers in the tooling area
in the West & Midlands"
From that their core strategy, of replacing imported tooling
products was developed and, over an extended period, their
research and verbal support from people in the industry gave
them enough encouragement to back up their confidence in the
concept and take the leap of faith involved in setting up
their own business.
"This award is a tremendous achievement at National Level
and a great vote of confidence in us. We are thrilled for
our employees but it has been tough going. Apart from putting
our own money into the idea, we had to seek outside investors
through a Business Expansion Scheme and other supports", he
said.
"Most of our customers were buying tooling abroad before
we started operations. We are filling a need for a service
in the local Irish market, and we supply both multinationals
based in Ireland and Irish indigenous companies", he outlined.
It's an innovative, intensive and very precise business and
George paid a warm tribute to Roscommon County Enterprise
Board for providing help with capital and training grants
for employees. "I can simply say that without their support,
we would not be here today", he said.
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