Generic Business.jpg

Cork companies create more than 200 new jobs

Multinational companies making jobs announcements in Cork is not that unusual, thankfully. However what is unusual is two Cork multinationals making significant announcements within a few days of each other.

One Cork software company, Poppulo, is set for another expansion after it announced that it is to create 125 jobs in Ireland to support its international expansion. Another Cork company, Crest solutions also recently announced that they will create 80 new jobs, making it a headline week for Cork multinationals.

Employee communications software company Poppulo already employs 163 in Cork and 37 in Boston. The company say that previous jobs announcements have all been delivered on ahead of target.

The new roles will be mainly high-tech engineering and R&D roles and there will also be sales and marketing positions. A parallel expansion in the United States will bring Poppulo's total workforce to over 400 within three years.

Founded by Irish tech entrepreneur Andrew O'Shaughnessy, Poppulo's software is centred around workplace communications and engagement and is used in more than 100 countries. Over 30 per cent of the largest employers in Europe and 20 per cent of the largest employers in the United States are Poppulo customers. Customers include Unilever, Bank of America, Nestlé, Johnson Controls, Rolls-Royce and almost half the world's top pharma companies.

Announcing the new jobs, O’Shaughnessy said that while Poppulo is rapidly growing its global customer portfolio and expanding its base in the US, he was delighted to be in a position to create high-value jobs in Ireland.

He paid tribute to Enterprise Ireland for its encouragement and support. “Enterprise Ireland has been with us from the start when we were a handful of people and they’re just as committed to our success as we scale. Supporting home-grown successful indigenous companies so that they can scale is incredibly important,” he said.

Minister for Business, Enterprise, and Innovation Heather Humphreys said: “As an Irish multinational, Poppulo is rooted in innovation and progression.”

Crest Solutions

The 80 jobs were announced as Minister Heather Humphreys officially opened Crest Solutions’ Customer Innovation Centre at the company headquarters in Little Island recently.

Crest Solutions provides engineering services and solutions to multinational pharma and medical devices clients in Ireland, UK, Europe and the US. The company has experienced huge growth with employment growing from 20 people in 2011 to over 135 today.

They are on track to hire an additional 80 engineers, project managers, analysts and technicians by year end, with further growth forecast of 100 more roles through to end 2021.

Crest Solutions was founded in 1998 and is now amongst Northern Europe’s leading engineering services partners to life sciences companies.

With offices in Cork, Westport and Corby, UK, Crest Solutions has also grown into the Benelux and Scandinavian regions too.

The company now delivers and supports systems in multiple sites globally for pharmaceutical clients. Crest Solutions has established an installation and support team in the US and is currently delivering projects in Brazil and South Africa.

CEO Frank Madden said “We are announcing our plans to grow group revenue to over €150 million over a five-year period. We are proud that this will double our workforce from 150 today to over 300 by end 2021.

“As multinationals build global teams to assess and implement emerging Industry 4.0 technologies, they are contracting Crest Solutions to partner with them to build scalable solutions for their sites internationally,” Mr Madden explained.

“We emphasise how important Enterprise Ireland and its Global Sourcing initiatives have been to connect us with multinationals in Ireland. By serving the multinational life sciences companies attracted to Ireland by the IDA and introduced to us by Enterprise Ireland, these clients have introduced us to major global opportunities in their sites in export markets around the world,” said Mr Madden.