ARMAGH-based McShane Packaging, an industry leader in developing innovative sustainable packaging solutions, is creating 20 jobs as part of a £1.2 million investment to expand its production facilities.
And a further investment of £1.1m is being made in state-of-the-art technology at the new site as demand for precision and sustainability reaches a critical point in the packaging industry.
Established by Paddy McShane with a £3,500 loan from the Armagh Credit Union (which allowed him to buy a second-hand van and rent a small unit in Dungannon business centre selling chemicals and sundries to the mushroom industry), the company provides packaging to a number of vegetable and poultry businesses throughout the UK, Ireland, EU and South America.
Based since 2000 at Aghanore Road in Armagh, an increase in output led to McShane purchasing a nearby facility on Cathedral Road.
And this larger warehouse and office space gives the firm room to spend £1.2m developing the Aghanore Road production site, a scheme which is expected to take nine months.
The move has given it a 25 per cent boost in productivity and a 180 per cent increase in warehouse capacity, and the turf on the site was cut on February 1 - some 25 years to the exact day when Paddy first started out in 1996.
The business is now run by Paddy and his wife Philippa and it has 35 staff on its books, some of them celebrating 20-plus years at the business.
But they intend taking on an additional 20 staff as output has soared, due in part to more people staying and working at home and shopping at supermarket rather than dining out or eating at work.
McShane is currently recruiting for an operations manager and a quality manager, and there will also be positions available in production, stores, marketing, HR and engineering later in 2021.
Paddy says: “The last 25 years have been a tremendous challenge but I’ve enjoyed watching how much the food industry has changed and there’s a strong future in plastic packaging solutions in the sector
“We've become flexible and agile as a result of so many changes and challenges, and we’re hugely excited and proud to start this new chapter in our business.”
