McArdle Skeath, the Co Monaghan-based supply-chain company, has secured investment of €5 million from EIIS investors. The second-generation family-owned business has obtained €3.4 million from the Goodbody 2015 EIIS Fund, managed by Baker Tilly Hughes Blake and Goodbody, and a further €1.6 million from private EIIS investors. McArdle Skeath will use the funding to support the development of their 21 acre next-generation supply chain management facility in Hollystown, Dublin 15. The investment is part of a wider funding package of €16 million which is being developed with the support by Bank of Ireland.
“From our original base in Inniskeen, McArdle Skeath have developed a strong reputation for supply chain management for some of Ireland’s largest food ingredient and pharmaceutical companies” said Micheal McArdle, chief executive of McArdle Skeath. “With the development of our large new facility in Hollystown, just off the M50 and twenty minutes from Dublin Port, we’re excited to be able to bring our unrivalled service to a wider range of customers across the country. We are delighted to be able to create 20 new positions in Dublin in the coming months and we look forward to growing the business to better serve all our partners and customers”.
McArdle Skeath has been in business for 48 years, it has annual revenues of €10 million and employs 97 people at its headquarters near Inniskeen. In 2014 they acquired a 21 acre site in Hollystown and work recently started on Phase 1 which will see the company develop an 11,000 sq m warehouse which will be capable of handling 26,000 pallets in a temperature-controlled environment with additional clean room facilities.
“We plan to more than triple the capacity of our business over the next four years, so this investment is hugely significant,” said McArdle. “It represents a big change. For a second-generation family-owned business, this is the first time we’ve gone looking for external funding to develop the business further.” McArdle Skeath’s clients include large multinationals and Irish SME companies in the pharmaceutical, technology and food sectors.
The investment in McArdle Skeath is the third by the Goodbody 2015 EIIS Fund, which was established in late 2015. “We’re delighted to make this investment that will enable McArdle Skeath to significantly grow their presence in the key food and pharmaceutical markets,” said Stephen McGivern, partner, Baker Tilly Hughes Blake. “When we first met the McArdle family we were instantly struck by the knowledge and thoroughness of the team that has been developed over five decades and which has learned to adapt and grow to meet the needs of its customers. They have developed deep relationships over time which now gives them a fantastic platform for growth over the next decade.”
