Boston Scientific goes for yet more growth

The man who saved the Baxter Healthcare pharmaceutical plant from closure in Castlebar, Co Mayo, is now overseeing the expansion of Boston Scientific into one of the biggest regional employers in the State.

Corkman, Mr Bernard Collins (49), was part of the consultancy team which determined that Ireland was the best European country for Boston to set up base. And now he is vice-president of international operations for the company which this week announced a plan to create a further 2,050 jobs on top of its current 1,500. The expansion will centre on Cork and Galway.

Mr Collins was with Baxter from 1976 until 1987: in human resources for the first three years; development and project management for another year; and then a two-year stint in the US; before becoming assistant general manager in 1983. Two years later, coinciding with his promotion to general manager, corporate headquarters decided to close the plant. "The objective at that time was to try and reverse the closure decision. We did that, we turned it around, and I regard that as one of the real successes of Irish industry."

He says that one of the key factors in convincing the multinational to change its mind was his Irishness. The foreign general managers prior to that were "not prepared to take on the issues of the day" and "rock the boat at headquarters".

He says that the pride of the management was at stake. "The one successful ingredient was getting the management team to agree to a vision of what they wanted to be," he says.

"I am a strong believer in team work and trying to achieve excellence in everything we do."

Mr Collins did a BA in UCC. He then worked as a manufacturing supervisor for Ford in Britain before moving to Irish Plastics Packaging in Dublin as production manager. He obtained a Diploma in Business Administration in North West University, Chicago, and in Strategic Manufacturing Management from INSEAD, Paris. After Baxter, he worked for another Boston medical devices company, Haemonetics, for four years, before taking it public.

In 1991, he formed Collins and Associates Consulting, working for Boston Scientific on its original European study. Scotland, Britain and Switzerland were strong contenders but the Ireland recommendation "stood up to scrutiny" and the company set up in Galway. Mr Collins cautions giving in to EU pressure on changing the corporate tax regime or industrial development policy.

"On tax, and to a lesser extent on grants, we are getting very good value for money and let us not be too quick to change horses."

He says the long-term availability of a low corporate tax levy on manufacturing industry has been discussed with the current and previous governments.

"We have stressed that when a company like ourselves makes an investment, it is an investment on a long-term basis. "Therefore, the conditions must be right for the long haul.

"We were saying we had made the first investment on the basis of the 10 per cent rate.

"We got very strong and very specific assurances from the last government and this Government that it was not going to change substantially," he said.

Cork and Galway are as expensive as Dublin, he says, but what makes them attractive for Boston is the ready availability of professionals and graduates.

The local welcome and co-operation and "how switched on and progressive and how ambitious and how hungry they are" strongly influence industry to locate there, he says.

Boston's products tend to be high-value and small in size so shipping costs from Galway are not a problem.

Unlike Cork's international airport, Galway's regional status and its short runway has been a sticking point for Boston which has put pressure on the Government to upgrade the airport.

Mr Collins says the £4 million package to lengthen and widen the runway will allow it to take the new generation of medium-sized jets, while the formal approval for a third daily flight to Dublin will increase accessibility to and from Britain and Europe.