Local authority makes inward investment pitch in latest ‘Tipperary – The Place, The Time’ initiative
Leading companies located in Premier County get behind campaign
DATE: Tipperary County Council is elevating its promotion of the Premier County as a destination for FDI and indigenous industries as it seeks to capitalise on opportunities arising from any move away from city-based investments due by COVID-19.
The local authority has embarked on its latest ‘Tipperary – The Place, The time’ promotion with an online video campaign to highlight the county’s attractiveness as a location for not just inward industry investment but also for people to relocate to the county and take advantage of growing employment opportunities there.
The county council has produced four short videos with companies based in Tipperary that showcase its value proposition for FDI and indigenous investment. The short videos will sit on and be promoted from the Tipperary.ie website, which was launched in 2018 with its brand campaign ‘Tipperary – The Place, The Time’ aimed at winning further inward investment for the county.
The videos set out why companies and their employees have found Tipperary such an ideal location to establish a base. Further videos and testimonies from companies with investments in Tipperary will follow in the New Year.
The programme begins this week with DMS Governance, Cashel, an international governance, risk and compliance firm representing leading investment funds and managers. Its operations commenced in Tipperary in 2019 when the multi-national firm acquired Aviation Corporate Services (AvCS), which was founded local by Niall McNamara and Frank Dowling.
Other companies to follow with their ‘Tipperary stories’ over the coming weeks will be Technopath in Ballina, FRS in Roscrea and Fiserv in Nenagh.When DMS took over the Cashel founded company, it started with six employees and has now grown to over 50 staff members already and has recently launched a recruitment programme to increase its staff count.
Laura O’Connell, Global Head of HR commented: “With a strong culture of community, integrity and diversity, DMS is always striving to be the best in everything we do. We are asking people now to join us on our journey as we continue to expand our team based in Cashel, home to our Centre of Excellence, with open roles in our corporate services, fund governance and regulatory reporting teams.”
In the video, Cahir, Co. Tipperary native Nick Wheeler explained that when he had the opportunity to move from Dublin to Cashel to head up the Centre of Excellence at DMS, he jumped at it. “It’s such a historic location and the Rock of Cashel really drives this home. It’s known the world over and the Irish culture permeates the whole town. Cashel is just so centrally located being just two hours from Dublin, and an hour or so from Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Kilkenny,” he said.
“You get a lot more time to breathe here and a lot less time commuting to the office, no longer being stuck in traffic and life is just that bit more affordable. It’s a special place and we all love it here.”
Founder Patricia O’Connor, a Director at DMS, noted that Cashel and Tipperary generally has been a great investment location for the company. “DMS has nine global offices and two of these are in Ireland. As a second site-location our Cashel office has been a huge success and its growth is now in line with Dublin. Cashel has been very successful in terms of recruitment and retention of staff. We have a great team spirit and that’s a big selling point for us.”
Retired Munster rugby star Mike Sherry, an Associate with the company, was equally positive. “DMS’s presence here underpins the growing confidence in investments in areas such as Cashel and Tipperary. More and more we are seeing opportunity and desire to grow businesses outside the major urban areas. Cashel is evidence of this.”
Commenting on the campaign, Tipperary County Council Chief Executive Joe MacGrath said that the companies who have located in Tipperary are among the best global ambassadors for the county. “We’ve got some really big global names operating out of Tipperary and some incredibly successful indigenous ones. This programme is a mix of those, and it is only right that we have them tell just why Tipperary is such a great location to operate out of as they have track record here. We are very grateful to these companies for their participation and look forward to their continued presence and growth here in Tipperary.”
He added that the redoubling of efforts to promote the county for investment and for people to come live and work here coincides with the commencement of work on a new Tipperary County Development Plan 2022 – 2028. The Plan will be a framework for how we will deliver for all our communities, through protecting our environment, reducing our energy demands, maintaining the viability of our towns, villages and rural communities, and supporting job creation.
Anthony Fitzgerald, Head of Enterprise at Tipperary County Council said that the launch is very timely given as, for all its challenges, COVID-19 could, conversely, throw up opportunity for further investment in Tipperary. “We’ve always had a great location as we are so centrally located, have excellent access to Cork, Dublin and Shannon airports, have two motorways running through the county connecting us to Ireland’s four largest cities, an excellent rail network linking us to Cork, Dublin and Limerick and then we have a huge advantage in terms of competitiveness. Property prices are extremely affordable by national comparisons, there’s a great graduate supply from the institutes of technology and universities and an excellent all-round quality of life.
“Put that mix together with the new world we have entered with very much a growing trend around companies being able to diversify away from larger and more expensive urban centres and we have an unrivalled value proposition and offering. Now is the time to talk to us about your investment in Tipperary”
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