GALWAY, Ireland, February 8, 2021 – HID Global, a worldwide leader in trusted identity solutions, has announced it is on track to open its Centre of Excellence in Galway city in 2021. This will allow for full consolidation of business activities, including manufacturing operations, to the new facility in Mervue Business Park by end of 2022. The news comes as the company celebrates hiring 80 employees since 2019 with plans to grow employee headcount to 300 over the next three years.
HID Global first established in Tully, County Galway in 2006 and it currently employs 180 people in Ireland. HID is best known in Ireland as the company which provided the enabling technology for Ireland’s revolutionary passport card program which was the first of its kind to allow travellers to cross borders in Europe with an electronic passport card rather than a traditional passport booklet. Most recently, the company was chosen by leading aerospace company Avolon to provide its mobile access solution for Avolon sites worldwide.
“HID Global also set up an Operations and Fulfillment Centre in Shannon in 2019. Our new facility in Galway underscores HID Global’s commitment to steadily expand our operations, R&D, supply chain, customer service, IT, finance, and other business functions to support a growing customer base across EMEA,” said Craig Sandness, Senior Vice President and Head of Secure Issuance and Citizen ID Solutions. “The state-of-the-art facility will serve as a major hub for the production of access and identification-related applications, such as electronic passports and access cards, which represent large and growing segments of HID’s business.”
Due to steady growth and plans for the consolidation of a number of functions into its new EMEA Centre of Excellence, the company is gearing up to open its new Galway Centre of Excellence office by the end of 2021, and to expand its workforce to 300 people by end-year 2023. The new, larger Centre of Excellence facility in Galway will increase efficiencies and give HID the capability to cater to its growing employee headcount in Galway and their needs in terms of accommodation and life-style ambitions over the next three years. The availability of highly skilled staff in the region, and strong language skills in the area have been key factors in the company’s decision to locate in Galway.
HID has continued to operate during the extraordinary conditions presented by COVID-19, thanks to a dedicated staff and early rollout in March 2020 of a thorough safety protocol on site. A large proportion of its new hires were onboarded successfully while working remotely.
Speaking about the announcement and progress in the development of the EMEA Centre of Excellence HQ in Galway, Trevor Fox, VP and Site Lead at HID Global, Ireland said: “We are thrilled to have good news to report at what is a difficult time for many. The support we have received from government agencies Údarás na Gaeltachta and IDA Ireland has played a crucial role in allowing us to demonstrate to our global leadership team why Galway is the perfect location for this investment. The support from both Údarás and IDA Ireland has been a key factor in our success since 2006. Galway has been an excellent foundation for us to build from and the continuing investment from HID to underpin our capability and growth plan can be seen as a huge boost of confidence in the area and the people behind the success.
Our employees have been outstanding at adapting throughout the pandemic and this adaptability and resilience allowed us to continue business as usual and drive on with this programme of investment. We are very excited to move to this new Centre of Excellence from 2022.”
Martin Shanahan, CEO of IDA Ireland said: “HID Global is a leading technology solutions company operating in many fast-growing markets. The establishment of this new Centre of Excellence in Galway and expansion of its workforce is most welcome, adding to the dynamic and vibrant technology ecosystem that has developed in Ireland’s West Region. I wish the company continued success with its expansion in Galway.”