THIS is Manufacturing Month for Northern Ireland, and with its vibrant, innovative manufacturing community, the region has plenty to celebrate.
As Northern Ireland carves out a world-leading position in this sector, the whole ecosystem, from academic researchers and innovative engineering students, through to keen apprentices, highly skilled workers and plucky business leaders will, quite rightly, be given the attention it deserves.
The sector is buoyant and Northern Ireland is an attractive place to do business because of our unique dual market access and the well-established innovation ecosystem from top to bottom.
With our local heritage in industry and innovation, clichés about Northern Ireland “punching above its weight” are used so often that the value of this statement may have become under-rated. The truth is that manufacturing solutions developed in Northern Ireland are solving problems globally and our innovative streak is alive and well. One outstanding example of this is Ballymena-based Wrightbus, now under the ownership of Jo Bamford and a dynamic new team, led by managing director Neil Collins.
Neil spoke at Barclays’ NI Chamber of Commerce Sector Club a couple of weeks ago and he underlined the exciting economic opportunities that can open up for Northern Ireland manufacturers when the engineering solution is right.
In Wrightbus’ case, the innovation in question is the hydrogen-powered, zero-emissions double decker bus, the Hydroliner – truly a world first.
Launched in 2020, just ahead of the G7 conference, the timing couldn’t have been better, as governments around the world scrambled to find novel ways to tackle traffic pollution, improve public transport and reach ambitious zero emissions targets.
Neil said, “Sustainable mass transport is a way to reduce a lot of people’s carbon footprint very quickly; we have a huge global opportunity as governments rapidly ramp up their ambitions to “green the fleet.”
“The move to zero emissions is the biggest change in transportation in 75 years. From a manufacturing perspective, with the shift from mechanical engineering and combustion, to handling gas and hydrogen power, we’re manufacturing one of the most complex pieces of kit on the island of Ireland. The innovation is all driven here in Ballymena.”
Wrightbus is investing heavily in R&D, working through Queen’s University to mine the best young engineering brains for new solutions, and they are working with their local council on the new Ballymena Hydrogen Academy and IC4 Centre for renewables and clean technology.
When it comes to innovation, companies can’t afford to think in isolation. With novel hydrogen power, infrastructure is essential, so Wrightbus’ sister company, RYZE Hydrogen is focused on the transport and distribution of hydrogen fuel.
The Wrightbus team also has a heavy focus on parts and servicing to keep their buses on the road and they have developed a sophisticated telematics system to predict any tech or mechanical issues to minimise off-the-road downtime. All of this, of course, could present further local job opportunities in software engineering, electronic engineering and data analysis.
The introduction of zero emissions buses has dramatically – and rapidly - shifted the product focus for Wrightbus. In 2021, diesel buses made up 70 per cent of their orders and now, just a year later, 70 per cent of the order book is for zero-emissions models. The company has grown from 58 employees in 2019 to almost 900.
The revenue profile of Wrightbus is roughly 70 per cent UK and 30 per cent export markets (including the Republic of Ireland). The firm sees major export opportunities across Europe in the next five years and they now have a factory in Malaysia, poised to supply new customers in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.
As a Barclays client, we admire the drive and vision of the Wrightbus team, and we are excited to see what’s next for them – and indeed for many other local manufacturers. Northern Ireland continues to push forward with its prowess in invention and innovation. The manufacturing sector is poised to create more wealth and work in communities across Northern Ireland and we’re proud to celebrate its success in this Manufacturing Month.
:: Graeme MacLaughlin is relationship director at Barclays Corporate Banking.
