Heater maker Glen Dimplex to axe 300 jobs on island of Ireland

The company’s Portadown site in Northern Ireland is to be shuttered completely next year, with the loss of 200 jobs, the Irish company announced today.

Panel and storage heating manufacturing will transfer from the group’s sites in Newry and Portadown to its existing manufacturing site in Lithuania. The manufacturing of flame products will move from Dunleer in Co. Louth to China.

The heater maker, founded by Martin Naughton, will phase in all of the redundancies between late 2024 and 2026, it said today. No job losses are expected within the next six months.

Glen Dimplex also plans to add 200 new jobs on the island over five years, as part of a group-wide “reorganisation” and “reorientation” towards more climate-friendly products such as heat pumps.

The move will see €50m invested in the business: €40m of which will go towards new jobs, offices and the consolidation of its business on the island of Ireland. A €10m envelope is being set aside for expansion in Lithuania.

Glen Dimplex Group CEO Fergal Leamy said the drive for more renewable electricity “requires a transition in the technology and appliances used in our homes and businesses”.

“Our proposed €50m investment will reorientate our operations on this island so that they are environmentally and economically sustainable and a major driving force in the next chapter of growth at Glen Dimplex,” he said.

“By signalling these proposed changes significantly in advance of proposed implementation we aim to mitigate the impact on staff and minimise redundancies through training and redeployment and affording the opportunity to apply for hundreds of new roles that will be created over the coming years.”

Mr Leamy admitted the transition “will bring significant change and challenge in the near term”.

He said the “status quo is not an option” due to consumer demand and public policy.

Glen Dimplex currently employs over 8,000 people globally and 800 people on the island of Ireland.

Under the reorganisation, overall employment on the island of Ireland will increase by 200 people to 1,000 by 2029, a boost of 20pc.

The group has manufacturing locations in Newry and Portadown, two sites in Dunleer and a sales and distribution operation in Cloghran near Dublin Airport.

The reorganisation plan will see site numbers in Ireland cut from five to three, with the Portadown operation closing down, though Glen Dimplex is to invest €25m in its Newry facility. One of the Dunleer sites is to close as the manufacture of flame products moves to China.

The Newry site is to turn into a centre for the manufacture of zero-carbon, renewable heating solutions including heat pumps.

Kieran Donoghue, chief executive of economic development agency Invest NI, said: “The news of Glen Dimplex‘s plans to wind down its facility in Portadown over the next two years will be deeply upsetting for staff. We will work with the company and those affected to identify alternative employment opportunities and to pursue reskilling opportunities as appropriate.”

Employees at all Glen Dimplex sites were briefed today about the proposed reorganisation.