Good news for midlands as prestigious eyewear firm to create 100 jobs

ONE hundred jobs are to be created in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, over the next five years by Oakley Inc, a global leader in the manufacture of high-quality eyewear.

Recruitment is already underway and a new 10,000 sq. ft building at Clonmore Industrial Estate is in the course of being fitted out for the manufacture of prescription eyewear by the IDA-supported company.

Tánaiste Mary Harney said the new jobs were much welcomed in the region. “This is great news for Mullingar as Oakley is a technology leader in performance eyewear with a global brand.”

Yesterday’s announcement is the seventh such announcement made by the Tánaiste in various regions during September, with IDA-supported projects are generating almost 1,100 new jobs.

The Mullingar facility is part of Oakley’s strategy to localise manufacturing of prescription eyewear products destined for European markets. In 2001, the company established a similar prescription capability at its US headquarters in Foothill Ranch, California, to serve the needs of the North American markets. Up to then this work was outsourced to speciality lens manufacturers in Europe and the US.

Oakley prescription eyewear programme manager Becky Wilkinson said: “We chose Mullingar because of its large skilled workforce and the favourable business climate found in Ireland.

“The technological complexity of Oakley lenses and frames requires intense attention to detail and quality.

“Establishing these capabilities in-house not only allows us to better control all the complex processes, but it also helps improve the operating margins of our prescription business,” she said.

Oakley is a prestigious brand which sells sunglasses, footwear, watches and prescription eyewear to consumers in more than 70 countries. It has sales of $458.9 million.