Belleek Pottery, the giftware company that owns Galway Irish Crystal and Aynsley China, is planning to significantly expand its operations with new acquisitions worth up to £50 million sterling (€80 million), the group's chairman has said.
Dr George Moore, the Irish-American businessman who owns the group, said Belleek was actively pursuing new acquisition opportunities in the Republic, Britain and overseas.
"We would like to make a significant acquisition and we are looking for a quality company that fits our objectives - namely strong brands and strong distribution systems.
"We feel it will be very difficult to find a quality company that fits our requirements in either the UK or Ireland, so we may have to look further afield to satisfy our objectives," Dr Moore said.
He said the group also plans to add a number of "bolt-on" acquisitions following the success of Belleek's multimillion pound purchase of Donegal China last year.
Dundalk-born Dr Moore, who made his fortune when he sold his computer software business to technology giant Equifax, wants to grow the giftware group's turnover to £100 million per annum.
Since he acquired the 138-year-old Fermanagh company in 1990, Dr Moore has pursued a strategy of acquisition and organic growth, which has positioned Belleek as one of the top giftware companies in Britain and Ireland, with an annual turnover of more than £30 million.
There has been a steady stream of acquisitions since 1990.
First was Galway Irish Crystal in 1993, then Aynsley China in 1997 and last year's acquisition of Donegal China.
The group employs more than 800 people.
"We want to continue to grow the group and we want to be a dominant player in this sector. We are a profitable growth-orientated organisation and we have the resources needed to take this business forward.
"Investment has always been one of our cornerstones.
" We have invested heavily in all of our businesses and we will continue to do so, and that is one of the reasons why we have been successful," Dr Moore said.
He said the group had three basic principles that all divisions strictly adhered to.
"The first is product design, the second is pricing and the third is distribution.
"We have a strong management team in place throughout the businesses and we are focused on growing the business into a large giftware group," Dr Moore said.
He does not anticipate the current economic climate will lead to a downturn in the giftware sector but he said that the foot-and-mouth crisis earlier in the year had impacted on its domestic business in Ireland and Britain.
"The number of visitors fell sharply and that hit our goals for this year but we have such a broad range of products and a worldwide distribution network that we are not highly dependent on one particular sector.
"More than 70 per cent of our volume is now shipped outside of the UK and Ireland. Belleek in particular is very popular in the United States, while Aynsley is very strong in the Far East.
"But our home markets are still very important to us, we believe every sale is important whether it is $1 or £1 at a time and it is my belief that you have to be strong in your own front yard to be successful elsewhere," Dr Moore added.
