£2m Technology And Polymer Centre Officially Opens

Alastair Hamilton, Chief Executive of Invest Northern Ireland has officially opened a new £2million Technology and Polymer centre for Bangor firm Munster Simms Engineering Ltd (Whale).

The state of the art facility will double the size of the company's facilities in Northern Ireland and help it to almost double export business over the next three years. Invest NI has offered Munster Simms £750,000 to support the development of the new centre, with Bank of Ireland UK also providing significant funding.

The 200 year old company, which trades under the brand name Whale, specialises in the design and manufacture of heating products, water and waste pumps. With an annual turnover of £15million, it is a global market leader in the leisure marine, recreational vehicle (RV), shower drainage and industrial markets.

Speaking at the event Mr Hamilton said: "Today is a landmark in Munster Simms’ long and successful history. This company has grown significantly in the past 5 years to become a world leader in key global markets but has remained true to its local roots by retaining all aspects of the business in Northern Ireland including research, design, manufacturing, marketing, testing, and most recently software development. I am proud to say that Invest NI has worked closely with Munster Simms for many years on a number of key R&D, skills and job creation projects.

"I believe that the company’s focus on innovation, exports and people development is what has cemented its success over the past 200 years and allowed Munster Simms to sustain growth despite very challenging economic conditions.

"This new facility will play an important part in the future growth of Munster Simms, particularly in terms of product development, and will support the company as it exploits sales in existing and new global markets, including the US where it recently purchased a gas cooker and marine water heater company."

The new centre has increased the scale of the company’s existing sophisticated testing laboratory and now includes a full scale cold test chamber, thermal imaging technology, upgraded wind testing chamber, software development and polymer analysis facilities.