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Four men’s roller-coaster journey from engineers to entrepreneurs How the founders of specialist engineering firm Horizon created a win-win business model

o NE of my favourite quotes

comes from French writer Andre Gide, who said “you

will never discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore”.

This quote serves as a powerful reminder that achievement in our lives comes only

after our decision to try, to take risks and to go beyond our comfort zone.

Starting a business in good times can be challenging. Setting one up in the midst of a major recession takes even greater courage. But that’s exactly what this week’s entrepreneurs did.

Colleagues Aiden Corcoran, Mark McLean, Seamus

Reidy and Hubert Halligan spent many years working together as engineers before spotting an opportunity to set up their own business. Founded

in Westport in 2010, their company, Horizon, provides specialised consulting and engineering

services to manufacturing firms primarily in the

life science (pharmaceutical, biotech and medical devices) and food sectors.

The four men had been working for a multinational biotech company in Mayo when they became aware of a policy change in how the firm contracted consulting engineers to help complete specific projects.

“The company decided that rather than deal with a multiplicity

of individual contractors as they had done up to

that point, they would, instead, outsource this requirement to a single firm that could effectively

act as a one-stop shop for all their engineering needs,” explains managing director Aiden Corcoran.

That gave the four engineers the idea that, by combining

their individual skill

sets and hands-on operational experience, they might be able to offer that service to the firm.

And that’s what they did. In a real win-win situation, the four engineers came together, set up a new company and successfully

tendered for the work. Winning their first contract wasn’t easy because they were up against stiff competition, but their experience in, and knowledge of, the company’s operations won out.

Since then the engineersturned-entrepreneurs have

gone on to tender and win many other contracts. Because

of the sensitive and competitive nature of their work, Aiden isn’t permitted to publicly disclose the firm’s clients. However, as he shows me some of their names, it’s a who’s who in the world of pharma and biotechnology.

Initially, their customers were all Irish-based but today,

one third of their €3.5m turnover comes from the UK, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland

and the Netherlands. So what exactly does Horizon

do, I ask. “Our services can be divided into three key divisions,” explains Aiden. “These are (1) resourcing, (2) engineering and design and (3) software development. As part of our resourcing service, we recruit and place suitably qualified and experienced engineers in companies, on either

a short-term or long-term basis, where the company has a need for additional manpower.

While the engineers are placed within our clients’ organisations, they actually work for Horizon,” he adds.

The company’s engineering and design division involves providing consulting support to firms looking to source specialist

plant and machinery. Here, Horizon’s engineers start by mapping out the client’s

production process, then procure the equipment that

best suits their needs, and finally project manage its installation and integration.

“Our third and most recent division focuses on research and on the development of specialised software,” explains Aiden excitedly. “Up to now, when a pharma or food type firm was preparing a detailed specification for a piece of manufacturing equipment it was planning to buy, it had to compile a lengthy and time consuming list of requirements

across all functional areas of the business including operations, engineering, quality,

validation, HR, marketing and finance. This usually took between two to three weeks and involved a significant amount of input from staff, all of which costs money. Today, we have developed bespoke software which completes this same process and integrates this wide range of complex and collaborative inputs in as little as 72 hours,” he adds.

This software, which is in beta test mode, is soon to be rolled out to firms in Ireland and the US and the company is excited about its potential given the significant cost savings

it offers clients.

The last five years have been a real roller coaster for the four men. Aiden Corcoran, from Tuam in Co Galway, studied

mechanical engineering in Bolton Street, Dublin beforejoining

Hewlett Packard where he spent a number of years working in their process development team in the US. After returning to Ireland, he worked with Boston Scientific

before joining the large biopharma manufacturing company in Co Mayo.

The company’s chief operations officer, Mark McLean,

hails from Hollywood in Co Down. He has a master’s degree

in mechanical engineering from the University of

Ulster at Jordanstown and

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also worked with Hewlett Packard in the US. It was there that he and Aiden first met.

Seamus Reidy and Hubert Halligan are also directors. Qualified engineers, they too worked with the same company

in Mayo. Seamus who is a native of Waterford has over 20 years of experience in the sector and is now a subject matter expert in building and facilities. Hubert Halligan

hales from Athlone, Co Westmeath and is a subject matter expert in packaging and automation.

Even with their combined expertise, the process of growing

their business held numerous challenges. “Horizon

was born in the middle of the downturn and so raising finance

for the business was not easy. We had to find the money ourselves and shoe string the business until we got it up and running,” admits Aiden.

Even though founded in the teeth of the recession, one upside was that many potential

clients were also grappling with cost issues. As a result they increasingly began to look for an outsourcing model.

On the back of this, business began to grow and, in

2013, the firm opened an office in Dublin which now employs 10 staff. These staff act as a support to its Galway-based R & D centre of excellence which in turn collaborates with the Galway-Mayo institute

of Technology and NUIG. Earlier this year too, the company

opened another office, this time in Bristol, England, which serves as its Global Business Development Centre.

“It’s been a hectic few years for us as our business is constantly

evolving,” explains Aiden, who projects a further 50pc growth in turnover next year. “We are now very focused on developing niche markets where we can excel such as in

the areas of packaging and serialisation which is currently

becoming a hot topic in the pharma sector” he adds.

What is serialisation, I ask. “This refers to legislation

which is soon due to be introduced which will require all

manufacturers of pharmaceuticals to mark each individual

pack, carton or bottle of drugs with a unique global serial number or code,” explains Aiden, adding that it will help counter the recent increase in counterfeit drugs.

The firm also plans to open an office in Rhode Island in the US, with 10 staff, to harness the potential of that market and launch their new software product into the US. Furthermore, they have plans to partner with a US-based billion

dollar construction firm. “One of our key attributes

continues to be the quality and commitment of our staff,” explains Aiden. ‘We really are a like specialist manufacturing

team without a factory floor. Our unique selling point is that we bring that expertise instead to the factory floor of our clients,” he adds.

Andrew Gide was correct when he said that all success comes from having the courage to begin. And while Aiden Corcoran

and his fellow founders remain passionate about what they do and see opportunities everywhere in their industry, none of this success would have been possible had they not had the courage to move from the relative security of being employees into the challenging

world of becoming entrepreneurs. Theirs is an inspiring story of an inspiring company which looks set to become one of Ireland’s great success stories of the future.

Sean Gallagher

Overview

Company Name: Horizon Business: Providers of specialised engineering services to the food and life science sectors Set up: 2010 Founders: Aiden Corcoran, Mark McLean, Seamus Reidy and Hubert Halligan Turnover: C3.5m No. of employees: 46 Location: Headquartered in Westport, Co Mayo, with offices in Ballsbridge, Dublin, Sligo and Bristol in the UK

44 We really are a like specialist manufacturing team but without a factory floor. Our unique selling point is that we bring that expertise instead to the factory floor of our clients

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SETTING SAIL DURING THE STORM: Aiden Corcoran, managing director of Horizon, with Sean Gallagher in the lab at NIBRT Belfield, Dublin. Photo: Tony Gavin