The Inaugural Conference of the Irish Wood and Furniture Manufacturing Network took place earlier this year in The Clayton Hotel, Galway.

The IWFM Network was established under the West Regional Skills Forum in partnership with GMIT Letterfrack in 2018. The network was established to help companies in the industry thrive through collaboration. The network is open to anyone in the wood and furniture manufacturing sector including those involved in the design and manufacture of kitchens, architectural joinery, contract furniture, bespoke interior solutions, commercial interiors and wood-based products and services.

With 140 attendees across 87 companies in the sector, there was a palpable energy amongst all who attended to build a vision for Irish Wood and Furniture Manufacturing internationally and to build on success’ here in Ireland. 

Sean Gallagher was MC for the day and shared his knowledge on strategy for growth & innovation for SME’s. The theme of innovation and design was evident in addresses from all speakers: Dr Frank O Connor CEO Anois, Simon Dennehy CEO Perch, Stephen Bowcott- MD Sisk, Harry Hughes EY Entrepreneur of the Year & CEO Portwest, David Farrell of Michael Farrell Custom Furniture, Kevin O Reilly of Mivan, Dermot O Donovan – GMIT Letterfrack, Neil Ward Chief Executive Officer Mivan and our own MD of Merenda Ronan Haslette.

Ronan highlighted why this event and the IWFM was so timely

“With Brexit, Globalisation, Technological advancements, worldwide mobility of goods and people and other competitive forces, every business in our Industry needs to upskills its workforce and acquire skills to plug gaps, to diversify its product portfolio and find new markets, to manufacture as efficiently and sustainably as possible and to develop new products.”

To hear from more of the speaker, check out the videos and photo gallery at IWFM Inaugural Conference

To Join the network log onto  www.iwfm.ie