Irish backing for new UK commercial explosives venture

Two Irish businessmen are backing a €10 million UK-based venture that aims to cash-in on the growing market for commercial explosives in the Republic's building industry.

The new business, Trecwn Ltd, will challenge the existing player, Irish Industrial Explosives (IIE), which is 50 per cent-owned by building materials giant, CRH, through a subsidiary, Kemek.

Trecwn will be based in the valley of the same name near Fishguard in south Wales in a facility that formerly belonged to Britain's Ministry of Defence.

The UK health and safety authorities recently licensed the operation, and it is set to begin production early next year, with the Republic's €100 million industrial explosives market as its main target.

Trecwn's backers are Cork-based businessman Louis O'Regan; Kenmare solicitor Colm Murphy; Scottish businessman John Kettles; and a Canadian interest, ETI Explosives.

ETI has businesses in Canada and the US. It describes itself as one of the top four in its business in North America, and has annual sales of more than $100 million (€86 million).

Mr O'Regan told The Irish Times yesterday that the initial investment in the project will come to €10 million.

He said Trecwn's backers believe that the ongoing investment in road, rail and other infrastructure projects would continue to boost demand for industrial explosives in the Republic.

Mr O'Regan estimated the current worth of the Irish market at about €100 million. Explosives are used in road building, as well as in quarrying, which is one of the main sources of road building materials.

IIE is the biggest player in the Irish market - most recent figures show that last year it had sales of €40 million and pretax profits of €13.3 million.

Mr O'Regan said Trecwn would be competing with IIE on price and on the quality of its product, which he argued, would be more suited to road building.

He also said the company would be attractive to small and medium-sized quarry operators who are currently buying from IIE. "That means that they are buying explosives from their biggest competitor," he said.

Mr O'Regan's family runs the O'Regan Precast building materials company in Cork, but he is not directly involved in that operation. He owns a number of quarries in Munster.

Along with the Whelan Group, he was originally involved with Shannon Explosives, which sought planning permission to build a manufacturing facility in Kildysart Co Clare, on the Shannon Estuary, but he left that company in the late nineties.

Mr O'Regan said yesterday that new EU rules, which require explosive manufacturing to be carried out on sites of at least 600 acres, and at least one kilometre away from housing, would make it extremely difficult to find a suitable site in the Republic.

Trecwn is leasing its facility in Wales from Manhattan Loft, a construction and development company currently involved in revamping St Pancras railway station in London.