THE ENTREPRENEUR
FROM PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT IN POLAND TO CLEAN- TECH SOLUTIONS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET, EDMOND O’REILLY HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABLE TO SPOT AN OPPORTUNITY EARLY. SORCHA CORCORAN REPORTS
Over the years Edmond O’Reilly has established a number of different businesses in the agri, property development and recruitment sectors, the most successful of which up to this point has been Trustwater Group. With headquarters in Gurtnafleur Business Park, Clonmel,
Co Tipperary, Trustwater manufactures alternative cleaning and disinfection technologies. Its patented onsite generating technology replaces conven-
tional chemicals in a wide variety of cleaning and disinfection applications, such as environmental decontamination and food and beverage process cleaning and disinfection. A qualified engineer from a farming background, O’Reilly
has always had an eye for an opportunity, having been one of the first non-nationals to enter the Polish market and acquire property for development in the late Nineties. “Poland was opening up at the time and it seemed like the
place to be; the promised land. Tere was no indication that the Irish economy would do what it did. I became very familiar with the people in Poland and their skills and saw an obvious market that needed to be fulfilled in Ireland. “I started bringing overseas skills into Ireland and this
evolved into higher value-add activities such as engineering contracting, where we started to deliver projects rather than passing on the skills available to us.” In 2003, O’Reilly co-founded what was Ireland’s first mate-
rials recovery facility at the time – Clearpoint Recycling – to recycle household paper, cardboard, plastic and aluminium. “We got to the stage where we were recycling 50,000 tonnes of material per annum. Tat business became profitable very quickly, so
man acquired Clearpoint Recycling for €18m. “Te timing was right to sell it, it was very profitable and multiples were being paid for strong, profitable businesses at the time,” O’Reilly recalls. Te disposal allowed O’Reilly to focus full time on Trustwa-
we sold it in 2007.” Limerick-based waste management company Mr Bin-
onwards. We invested €10m on developing the technology, which is patented worldwide. “Te company was predominantly self-funded, but we got
ter, which he’d been working away on in the background for years, developing the science and technology. “Trustwater was my first passion throughout 2003 and
an investor in 2008 for the purpose of patent acquisition, so we could buy other patents to bolt onto our own technology. Enterprise Ireland (EI) provided some investment in 2010. We feel, however, that the network and advice EI offers have been the most valuable of all to us in terms of assisting us to enter new markets.” Trustwater has installed 200 of its units worldwide now.
Applications range from water disinfection in over 30 hospi- tals in the Netherlands to food and beverage customers such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi. “Initially we had to go out and prove applications for the
technology, which is development in its own right. Te best place to develop applications and allow them run time in the field is close to home to allow you to make modifications and document your success. Our
W ‘IN THE EARLY STAGES I WAS
FOCUSED ON THE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING ASPECT, TRYING TO BUILD UP A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF IT. FROM THERE, MY ROLE MOVED INTO SALES AND
26 OWNER MANAGER VOL 4 ISSUE 1 2011
GOI
N
T G
I
H
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52