Tricel
Tricel is a global engineering company headquartered in Killarney in County Kerry, Ireland. Tricel's four core divisions are Water Storage, Environmental, Construction and Distribution. It has production sites in 5 locations in Northern Europe including Ireland, Britain and France, which services customers in over 50 countries. Tricel currently employs 520 people and exports 75% of its products worldwide. Rebranding to Tricel. The Tricel brand was established in 2002 as KMG expanded into new markets and was already an established name in a number of countries. Tricel was awarded French and German trading licences in 2011 and 2012 respectively . Due to the growing success of KMG's sub-division Tricel, on 28 March 2014 Killarney Manufacturing Group headed by its founding company Killarney Plastics underwent a rebrand which saw companies within the groups existing structure renamed to Tricel. Companies rebranding. The companies included in the rebrand include: Killarney Plastics, now Tricel (Killarney); Fibreglass Sales, now Tricel (Newry) Ltd.; Gloucester Composites, now Tricel (Gloucester) Ltd.; and Tricel, now Tricel Poitiers SAS. History. Killarney Plastics was founded on 1 February 1973 by Anne and Con Stack in Killarney. Con had previously been involved in setting up Ross Products for the local  health board. Ross Products manufactured cardboard boxes and traded in the town for over 30 years. Killarney Plastics started off from a small lane in Killarney, manufacturing composite and fibreglass (GRP) products which were still relatively new to the Irish market. The company also manufactured a range of products including boats and building products for people in the locality. Killarney Plastics. To accommodate increased business, a new site was acquired and a small factory built in the early 1980s, also in Killarney. It was then the company started to develop its own range of products such as water-storage tanks  and meter enclosures. By the early 1990s the company had expanded its range of water-storage tanks and meter enclosures and its first export sales were sent to the UK and Europe. This trend continued and soon after Killarney Plastics was being awarded contracts for Irish and U.K. utility companies such as the ESB and Bord Gáis (now Ervia). Tricel (Killarney) now employ's 135 people at its main manufacturing site located just outside Killarney. Growth and formation of the KMG Group. Tricel (Gloucester), previously under the name of Gloucester Composites, was established in 1994 to establish a base in  the UK. The function of this business was to manufacture a specific amount of products for the U.K market. Fibreglass Sales, now Tricel (Newry), was then established to distribute raw materials in Northern Ireland in 1997. As a direct result, Killarney Manufacturing Group was established in 1998 to integrate all three companies. In 1999 KMG completed its first acquisition, Technotrak, which allowed the group to diversify into the design and manufacture of civil and road safety products. At the end of 1999 KMG acquired two of the UK's water tank manufacturers, Dewey Waters and Nicholson Plastics. Dewey Waters, based  in Bristol, was formed in 1956 and Nicholson Plastics with bases in Scotland and London was formed in 1968. As the size of the company had doubled, a R&D centre and advanced manufacturing facility was constructed in Ballyspillane Industrial Estate, Killarney by the end of 1999. Diversification. As part of the KMG Group diversification strategy, the group expanded into the environmental sector. A new division called Tricel was formed in 2002. Tricel was originally established to focus on the sewage treatment market, initially in Ireland and the UK and thereafter in Europe and the USA. In 2005, the KMG Group  acquired A.C. Plastic Industries, a UK manufacturer of water and fire sprinkler tanks. A.C. Plastic Industries Limited was formed in 1958. The company already had business in supplying water tanks to the Middle East and North Africa which further diversified the company. Cancelled Acquisition. In 2007, the KMG Group negotiated the purchase of the GRP Cold Water Tanks section from the Balmoral Group, a Scottish-based manufacturer. The merger was debated by the Office of Fair Trading and referred to the Competition Commission. However, it was ruled that it would reduce the competitiveness of the GRP cold water tank market  in the UK. The deal was subsequently abandoned.