Pallet manufacturer CJ Sheeran opens new €6m facility in Laois

(Left to right) Fergal Moran, business development director at CJ Sheeran Group, minister of state at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Niall Collins, Ashleigh Doyle, director at CJ Sheeran Group, and Mark Sheeran, managing director at CJ Sheeran Group and chairperson of Forest Industries Ireland at today's announcement. Photo: Mark Stedman

Pallet manufacturer and recycler CJ Sheeran Group has announced the opening of a new €6m logistics and storage facility at its headquarters in Laois.

The new 50,000 square foot facility, which forms part of a wider programme of strategic investment across the company, is capable of storing 150,000 pallets and will provide dedicated storage for customer products, while also expanding the group’s third-party logistics services.

Recent investments at the group’s Mountrath site in Laois also include a new automated pallet production line, producing in excess of 10,000 pallets per week; a new 1.75MW biomass boiler; and two new high-capacity kilns with a further two kilns planned.

This newest project by the firm has created 15 new jobs growing its total workforce to 465.

The company said recent investments are also expected to create further opportunities across manufacturing, engineering, logistics, warehousing, maintenance and business support functions as additional phases of development are completed.

Managing director of CJ Sheeran, as well as chairperson of Forest Industries Ireland, Mark Sheeran, said this “milestone investment forms the first of six major logistics and storage facilities planned as part of our long-term strategic investment plan for the site”.

“It provides the capacity required to support automation, increased manufacturing output and the next phase of CJ Sheeran Group’s growth, including third-party logistics,” he said.

“This project and our wider development programme creates the capacity for future job creation while also boosting sustainable employment, demonstrating our commitment to continuous investment in Laois and the Midlands region.”