Invest Northern Ireland, stylised as Invest NI, has taken an Irish Aviation company to court with the aim to recover thousands of pounds worth of public money invested into a failed scheme. This came after only a fraction of the project’s employment target was reached.
Money Judgement Case
Invest NI has been revealed as the plaintiff in a recent default money judgement court case against Irish aviation company, Eirtech Aviation Services, as a result of the latter company failing to reach even a tenth of its target in a project that Investment NI invested heavily in.
As the regional economic developmental agency in Ireland, Invest NI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) of the Department for the Economy (DfE). According to its website, Invest NI’s aim is to grow the economy by attracting new investment to Northern Ireland, and provide support to the government through economic development strategy. Offering a range of professional aviation services including production, engineering, material, and technical services, Eirtech Aviation Services is a manufacturing and overhaul company based in Ireland that has developed global reach since being founded in 2009. The sum involved in the case came at just under £30,000.
The project the case refers to is a facility that was opened in Belfast in 2018. This was a composite repair centre opened by Eirtech Aviation Services on Queens Road in an initial venture to establish itself in the city. The main operational activities undertaken in the facility were reportedly the overhauling and repair of various composite aircraft components found on commercial jets, such as flight controls.
The centre intended to invest into Northern Ireland’s aerospace sector, aiming to create 124 jobs by 2022 and contribute £4.3 million in annual wages. Because of this promising proposal, Invest NI made a financial offer of £992,000 to support the investment.
At the time, Alastair Hamilton, the chief executive of Invest NI, hailed the scheme as:
“bringing a new dynamic to our vibrant aerospace industry.”
The project’s failure to fully take off led to considerable financial loss for Invest NI, and resulted in the legal action against Eirtech Aviation Services.
A spokesman for Invest NI commented about the case:
“Eirtech Aviation Services (Holdings) Limited was a client company of ours. It received support in 2018 towards establishing a presence in Northern Ireland. The monies in question relate to clawback of funding previously paid. Recovery action has been taken and judgment has issued.”
Colossal Losses
Chief Executive of Eirtech Aviation Services at the time, David Kerr, claimed in 2018 that the Belfast facility aimed to secure company access to the British market post-Brexit, as part of a wider strategy that aimed to consolidate the future of the business. However, the composite repair centre project did not succeed in gaining traction, with the peak number of employees during the centre’s operation not even reaching ten percent of the project’s initial goal.
In fact, by the end of 2019, it had a staff count of only nine, and posted sales of £785,000 with a loss of £542,000. The following year, the Belfast project’s employee roster sat at 10, and revenues dropped to £301,000, increasing losses to £839,000. Turnover was £290,000 by 2021’s conclusion, with accumulated losses having grown to £932,000 and staff numbers dropping to a mere four employees, according to company accounts.
Documents at Companies House affirm that Eirtech Aviation Services was dissolved via a voluntary strike-off – a process whereby a company is permitted to dissolve itself when it becomes obsolete, as long as it adheres to specific legal conditions – by the end of 2023.
According to the company’s website, Eirtech Aviation Services continues operation from its headquarters at Shannon Airport (SNN), and retains a presence at Catalyst Innovation Centre, as well as in offices in Dublin, Singapore and California.
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