Preparation is key for success post-Brexit

Daithi O’Connor, Revive Active.

Preparation is everything when it comes to Brexit, with the consensus being that you really can’t start early enough to prepare for the changes that will come in 2021.

One company that knows everything about preparation is Revive Active, a massive success story in the Irish health supplements sector that is determined not to let Brexit slow down their plans of expansion in the UK.

Revive Active has been successful almost from its formation in 2011, thanks in large part to research and its dedication to producing exceptional products. The company was founded by Daithí O’Connor, who comes from a finance background but put over 12 months’ research into the supplements sector before establishing the company.

“It was almost by accident that I was introduced to supplementation. There were a number of medics in Galway who were interested in alternative medicine and I was introduced from the business side.”

While they had an array of different ingredients that they would recommend to individuals, nobody had taken on the task of putting these ingredients into one product.

Daithí could see the effects of key ingredients such as CoQ10 and L-Arginine, both of which were involved in Nobel prize-winning studies, and so came up with the idea of putting these ingredients in with many other vital ingredients for wellbeing.

“The idea was to make the best product possible, and then figure out the rest afterwards. That has always been the main thrust of our business, to always raise the bar. Our first product, Revive Active, is our flagship product, and contains 26 ingredients in a dissolvable sachet that is easily absorbed. We have 13g of product in there with no fillers or binders – to take Revive Active in tablet form would mean taking thirteen individual tablets.

And the business has been a success: From 2016 to 2018, turnover doubled, and from 2018 to 2020, it doubled again.

Brexit strategy 1: Move to Ireland

Today, the company has nine products, with one more in development, seven of which are manufactured by the company inhouse. At first manufacturing was outsourced to the UK, but with Brexit looming, Daithí made the decision to move the operations inhouse to Ireland.

“It has been a fantastic success, and we now have 14 people employed in Mullingar. We’ve been in operation about 18 months and already it’s getting too small and we’re looking at additional warehousing for storage.”

The move was made to minimise the financial risks from Brexit; in 2018, the company was granted European Regional Development Funding (EDRF) for the employment of a manufacturing manager at the plant. EDRF grants are implemented and managed by Enterprise Ireland.

Brexit strategy 2: Put your customers first

Daithí could clearly see that keeping the customer happy was key to success in post-Brexit Britain.

Daithí says that supply to Northern Ireland could come from either his Ireland or UK bases. He said Enterprise Ireland’s advisal services have been invaluable.

“Enterprise Ireland has been a great support to us with making such decisions over the past few years. In fact, I have been in touch with a specialist logistics person to discuss Northern Ireland post-Brexit.”

Brexit strategy 3: Look at the market trends

Daithí says that the UK represents about 10-15% of their business, but he sees significant room there for growth. The company has retail partners in Ireland, the UK, Nigeria and Portugal, but online is an important market, and through this, they sell all over the world. And it is here that Daithí sees the opportunities for growth in the UK post-Brexit and in wake of Covid-19.

“The whole industry has changed with Covid; the city centres are not getting the business they had before, but online is way up. Community pharmacies are also probably seeing an uplift. Luckily, we had a presence both in the city centre and through community pharmacies already.”