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Invest Northern Ireland is backing a new Coleraine-based
business - launched by environmental expert Dr Mark McKinney
- that offers solutions for contaminated commercial and industrial
land as well as pollution control and preventative systems.
ATG Services Ireland, the new
company, is already successfully targeting business in the
Republic of Ireland, Great Britain and in selected markets
overseas.
Formed in September 2006, ATG Services
Ireland currently sources 10 per cent of its business from
customers outside Northern Ireland and expects to grow this
to over 50 per cent in the short-term. It expects to have
seven employees on its payroll by September 2009.
The new company is investing over
£300,000 in the development of a 'one-stop-shop'
for owners wishing to clean up 'brownfield' commercial
and industrial sites - particularly in urban centres. Invest
NI is contributing around £50,000 to assist the company's
growth in areas such as marketing and IT.
Dr McKinney - who has also launched
Island Enterprises, a waste treatment business headquartered
in Coleraine, earlier in the year - said the new business
is already offering customers expertise in three areas -
- land remediation consultancy -
from diagnosis to the development of bespoke and technology-led
solutions
- contract management - and
- waste brokerage.
"Our strategy is to build on
our longstanding expertise in environmental technologies and
to become a leading specialist supplier of high quality and
cutting-edge solutions in this developing niche area
of land remediation" - Dr McKinney added.
"We want to push the boundaries
by pioneering new techniques in a field that is growing steadily
because of the shortage of greenfield sites to build on, particularly
in urban areas. This shortage is increasingly forcing developers
to address contaminated sites.
"This growing awareness of the
implications of land contamination on the environment has
led to a number of EU interventions that require member states
to take action on land contamination. In addition, demand
for remediation services has been further boosted by the major
growth in property values in UK and Ireland over the last
10 years.
"As a result of this increase
in property prices, developers are increasingly looking at
'brownfield' sites for development. The UK land remediation
industry has enjoyed significant growth as a result of the
above factors and has grown by 28 per cent since 2000, with
an estimated value of £1,003 million in 2005.
"The contaminated land remediation
industry was estimated to be worth in the region of £404
million in 2005 - growing to £630 million by 2010 and
£805 million by 2015. There is, therefore, a very substantial
market opportunity for the type of expert services that we
are developing" - Dr McKinney concluded.
Shelley Pinkerton, of Invest NI's
Coleraine office, sais - "We are supporting this ambitious
small company because it is a knowledge-led business that
meets all three of our economic priorities. It is entrepreneurial,
innovative and has a strong international focus. The company,
for instance, plans to move further into export markets and
to generate over 54 per cent of sales from markets outside
Northern Ireland.
"It will operate as a 'one-stop-shop'
for its clients. This will include initial problem diagnosis,
the development of viable and cost-effective remedial solutions
- followed by the actual implementation of these solutions.
The core approach will aim to tie in consultancy, contract
management and waste brokering - where the opportunities arise."
For more information on ATG Services Ireland - Click
Here
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