This article is from page 13 of the 2006-12-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
WHEN Elsevier Ireland was founded in Shannon in 1976, there were just two workers employed in the provision of subscription services from its tiny base on the Shannon Industrial Estate.
Thirty years later, there are 135 staff involved in the publication and support of medical, technical and scientific journals.
The Shannon plant is the second largest production unit in the Elsevier Group, producing 423 journals, generating 643,000 pages and operating a customer support department answering 4,000 queries a week.
The 30th anniversary of the company’s Shannon operation was marked at a function hosted by Shannon Development and attended by Minister for Labour Affairs, Tony Killeen and senior representatives from Elsevier Ireland.
Minister Killeen said Elsevier’s track record showed that companies can be globally competitive in a regional location such as the Shannon Free Zone.
Shannon Development chief executive Kevin Thompstone said the company’s growth mirrored the continuous reinvention which Shannon Development has had to undertake to maintain the Free Zone’s position as one of the leading business parks in Ireland.
Elsevier Ireland managing director Brendan Curtin said the Shannon operation has developed a very good reputation for innovation, contributing many ideas which were implemented globally.
While Elsevier has adopted the outsourcing model, the overall number of staff in Shannon continued to increase.
Elsevier Ireland Ltd is part of the Elsevier Group, a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services.
Working in partnership with the global science and health communities, Elsevier’s 7,000 employees in 71 offices worldwide publish more than 2,000 journals and 2,200 new books per year.