Westport workwear company Portwest is to increase staff numbers by 55 over the next four years, which will take its full Irish-based complement up to 130. All will work from the company’s head office in Co Mayo.
Portwest is well known for its range of protective equipment and clothing, and the Westport-based firm employs over 2,000 staff worldwide, with offices in the UK, Poland, Germany, Dubai, China, Bangladesh and the US.
The family-run business has been based in Westport for over a century, where the now global company is run by a trio of brothers, Cathal, Owen and Harry Hughes. The Portwest brand is sold in over 100 countries and turnover is expected to rise from the current level of €125 million to €250 million over the next four to five years.
The Portwest catalogue runs to 532 pages, and the safety footwear section alone offers a choice of 114 styles. There’s also a huge selection of gloves, high visibility garments, flame resistant clothing, rainwear, masks, eye protection and more besides
Portwest mainly works through resellers but they’re online at the website charleshughes.ie. The internet factor may or may not be behind the 30% surge in turnover to €88m in the year to March 2015, when the operating profit was €13m.
In Association with
Its 15,000 square metre UK warehouse has nine million units of stock across 1,250 styles, and 97% of Portwest’s revenue comes from outside Ireland.
The brothers are investing €4m to double the size of the company’s Mayo office complex to cater for the worldwide expansion, and once the offices are complete, recruitment will commence in areas of product development and design, finance, sales, supply chain, marketing and HR.
Chairman Cathal Hughes said: “We are very confident we will achieve these ambitious plans. Although the Portwest brand is sold in over 100 countries, we are also cautious that we have a long way to go to achieve maturity in a lot of these markets.
“We have heavily invested in staff over the last five years and are now at the planning stages to ensure we achieve further rapid growth. Part of this means we are actively looking for suitable acquisitions in both Australia and the US.”
Global Expansion
Portwest will also expand its manufacturing division from the current employment level of 1,600 staff to 4,500 staff over the next four years. The company’s own factory in Bangladesh will double in size to over 3,000 staff and a new factory in Myanmar will start taking on staff this autumn.
Owen Hughes, who is director in charge of acquisitions, is overseeing a deal to acquire an Australian workwear company, which is expected to close by the end of August.
Owen Hughes said: “Our loyal customer base, which we have built up over the years both at home and abroad, will continue to play an integral part in our future. A lot of work has gone into finding the right acquisitions and then negotiating a deal. We are excited about our Australian venture, as each future acquisition will result in more jobs for our Westport head office.”
The office expansion project in Westport will be managed by Cox Power Architects. Additional jobs will be created during construction, expected to start by November 2016 and last for six months.
The family also owns and runs Hotel Westport, a four-star, 130-bedroom hotel located in the centre of Westport, which employs 80 people, along with two outdoor shops in Westport and Galway.
Photo: L-R Harry, Cathal and Owen Hughes. (Pic: Michael Mc Laughlin)
