Security firm wins €1.15m in orders

SECURITY firm Netwatch are expanding in Britain having secured £1 million (€1.15m) in client orders, putting it on track to double its turnover by the end of the year.

The expansion will result in the creation of 10 highly-skilled jobs at the firm’s Carlow base.

Netwatch provides real time remote security monitoring to businesses and private residences in Ireland and internationally.

Chief executive David Walsh said he believes the future growth of the company will be heavily determined by its success in international markets.

“Being innovative and adaptive in seeking out new opportunities is just as critical to business success as product research and development. We have worked hard to internationalise our products and services into global markets, and we are now quoting for larger, more complex projects on the international stage.”

The company has just completed a contract with a telecommunications company to provide protection for communications infrastructure at the 2012 Olympic Games.

“Our research and development department has developed a unique wireless protection product for remote communication masts. Securing contracts such as these is what will ultimately make Ireland’s vision of being an innovation led economy a reality,” said Mr Walsh.

The Home Office in Britain estimated the total cost of crime each year at almost £60 billion and the British Chamber of Commerce stated that 80% of businesses indicated crime as a problem in their area.

Similarly here, the Small Firms Association crime survey 2010 showed almost one in two businesses had been a victim of crime in the past two years.

“We are currently working with a number of installation partners in the UK to embed our offering in the security market. There are more than 2,000 companies who specialise in the design, manufacture and supply of security equipment in the UK but we believe the investments we have made to date in our technologies, in our monitoring equipment, in the training and development of our staff in the establishment of a dedicated research and development facility and in our customer service will set us apart,” said Mr Walsh.

Established in 2003 by Mr Walsh and Niall Kelly, Netwatch employs 80.