Laois jobs boost with multinational pharma expansion to Portlaoise

An international pharma company is expanding to Laois, with the potential for job creation.

BNL Sciences which is part of the international company Caldic, supplies chemicals to the biopharma market.

It is going to build a new plant in Laois County Council's self-developed J17 National Enterprise Park in Portlaoise.

On Monday at their monthly meeting, councillors will be asked to approve the sale of a 3.71 hectare serviced site in the park, for €1.4 million plus VAT, to the company.

The park is already home to a host of other big companies who snapped up the serviced sites next to the M7 Motorway, and built their own vast factories.

They include Alpha Drives - sponsor of the new Laois Rose, Kirby Engineering, Midland Steel, Auben and Laprino Cheese.

Most recently, Midland Steel expanded from their Mountmellick plant to the park, creating up to 70 jobs. 

BNL Sciences describe their role as providing "custom-made solutions and high purity specialty chemicals, excipients and biological raw materials to the (bio)pharmaceutical, medical devices and material markets".

Laois County Council bought the land to develop the J17 park from Supermac's founder Pat McDonagh, to create large numbers of homegrown Laois jobs, following the failure of the IDA to do so in the county.

It followed a survey that found some 10,000 workers were leaving the county daily for their jobs, many having to commute to Dublin. 

Speaking at the opening of Midland Steel's plant, Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke said the IDA would do better to attract high quality jobs to Laois.

BNL Sciences has been asked for a comment on their plans.

Laois County Council produced its vision for the J17 National Enterprise Park in a master plan in 2018.

The plan's aim was to set out a detailed vision for the lands at Togher to deliver a viable economic zone focused particularly on heavy, light and ICT industry, distribution, logistics and other uses associated with the transport industry.

“This has the potential to be a major boost to the economy of Portlaoise and to contribute to the growth of the county and the region as a whole," says the plan.

This Masterplan aims to achieve the following goals and objectives, which are designed first and foremost to deliver the vision for the articulation of the lands as a National Enterprise Park.

• To secure the town’s role as one of the leaders for economic growth in the Midlands area;

• To contribute to the prosperity of Portlaoise by facilitating the provision of adequate land for enterprise, including sites at suitable locations for industrial, enterprise, commercial and where appropriate small business uses having regard to spatial planning, infrastructural, environmental and transportation requirements and compatibility with adjoining land uses;

• To maximise the beneficial return of public investment in the National road network by protecting the safety, carrying capacity and efficiency of such routes;

• To support and protect the existing economic base and seek to diversify the economy through inward investments at key growth areas within the town and the environs;

• To provide a positive gateway into the National Enterprise Park and Portlaoise.

The Council commissioned Arup to prepare an updated Masterplan for the Togher / Clonminam lands to develop and deliver the most effective presentation in terms of layout and design, land management and traffic modelling in the context of the Portlaoise Local Area Plan (2018 – 2024).

The plan is available at www.laois.ie/wp-content/uploads/J17-National-Enterprise-Park-Masterplan-Document-2018.pdf