New Offering For Growing Irish Food and Drinks Industry
Leading architecture practice HLM, with offices in Belfast, is working in partnership with specialist food and drink design practice, Fusion Design, to create HLM Fusion. The new venture combines Fusion’s specialist knowledge within the food and drinks industry with HLM’s high quality architectural designs to offer innovative solutions for the burgeoning industry in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
As a combined team, HLM Fusion provides specialist services to the food and drinks industry including strategic planning, production analysis, building design and production flows. It also offers assistance with national and EC legislation compliance, grant and funding assessments, and applications and feasibility studies.
The service is available across HLM’s six offices in London, Sheffield, Glasgow, Belfast, Cardiff, and Plymouth and internationally, through the company’s offices in Johannesburg and Abu Dhabi.
The food and drinks industry is Northern Ireland’s biggest manufacturing sector, generating £4.5 billion to the economy last year. Similarly, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) currently reports the agri-food sector in the Republic of Ireland contributes a value of €24 billion to the national economy and accounts for almost 10% of employment.
Karl Ruddle, who heads up HLM in Ireland, comments: “In the last two decades, the food and drinks industry in the UK and Ireland has changed dramatically, with international competition, stringent legislation and food hygiene standards inflating the cost of food production. In response to this shift, HLM and Fusion recognised the need for a single service offering expert advice to help food and drink companies to navigate the changing requirements of the landscape, whilst delivering cutting edge design.”
He adds: “As Northern Ireland plays host to the Year of Food and Drink in 2016, we have seen a recent sharp increase in expansion projects and exports, supported by initiatives such as the Agri-Food Strategy Board’s strategic action plan to support the industry in Northern Ireland. It’s an exciting time to launch HLM Fusion as a complete design service for this evidently growing industry.”
Des Gallagher, head of Fusion Design, says: “With over 25 years specialist design experience in the food and drinks industry and a demonstrable track record in delivering high quality, specialist and state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, we are delighted to work with HLM to expand our combined offering.”
HLM Fusion has recently been retained by Kerry Foods to further develop its state–of-the-art facilities in Enniskillen. Previously completed work includes a new industrial bakery facility and cold-store for Milish Foods at its Citywest Development in Dublin. The project delivered an innovative facility to accommodate production and storage facilities, from concept through to a fully operational site.
CAPTION:
Karl Ruddle (left) and Des Gallagher.
