Zimmer To Create 250 Jobs At New Facility In Ireland
By Jof Enriquez,
Follow me on Twitter @jofenriq
Orthopedic products provider Zimmer is expanding its operations in Ireland by opening a new plant. The plant is the company’s second facility in Ireland, and will employ 250 people over the next five years.
Zimmer will spend €51 million constructing the new building in Oranmore, Co Galway, where it will manufacture orthopedic implants, according to an Irish Examiner report. In addition, the facility will house the company's sales and marketing division in order to provide a direct sales team in Ireland.
“We are delighted to be adding a new location to our Ireland operations,” Adrian Furey, general manager for Zimmer Ireland, said in a statement, according to the Examiner. “We are constantly assessing our worldwide operations and logistics network and this project is a direct result of that process.”
Zimmer is merging with Biomet, and established a manufacturing facility in Shannon in 2007. That facility manufactures the company's “NexGen” femoral knee system and employs 330 people, the Examiner reported. The new plant in Oranmore will employ 250 people over the next five years. Recruitment for the site will begin in the coming months.
“Zimmer has had a very positive experience of doing business in Ireland,” Furey added in his statement, according to the Examiner. “We are looking forward to building on the success of our Shannon operation by expanding in Galway. Our Shannon facility will continue to be our flagship for Ireland and we will continue to invest in our operations there.”
The Industrial Development Agency (IDA) Ireland and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation helped Zimmer set up the new investment.
“Zimmer is one of the leading names in the medical devices sector. Today’s announcement will be seen across the world as another vote of confidence in Ireland, and Galway in particular,” Martin Shanahan, CEO of IDA Ireland, said in a statement posted on the agency’s website.
“Galway is already home to some of Ireland’s biggest names in medical devices – this announcement will add to the talent pool in the city and surrounding region,” Shanahan added in the statement. “Ireland is a global hub for the Med Tech sector with firms locating in regional locations across the country. Exports of medical devices and diagnostic products now represent 8% of Ireland's total merchandise exports.”
According to an industry profile by Enterprise Ireland, eight of the world’s 10 largest medical device companies are located in the country, with Europe’s premier cluster of device companies based in the Galway region. Medtech companies with operations in the area include Abbott, Bayer, Becton Dickinson, Boston Scientific, Johnson & Johnson, Guidant, Medtronic, and Stryker.
Ireland is attractive for global companies for investments because the corporate tax rates there are lower. However, the Irish government wants to end the “Double Irish” tax loophole that allows foreign companies to perform inversions and pay lower taxes.