Pure Fitout plans €3.1m investment in new business

Specialist construction business Pure Fitout plans a €3.1 million expansion, investing in the manufacture and sale of a new fire retardant.

The company, with offices in Belfast and Dublin, fits out hotels, restaurants, bars and offices, while also providing external cladding for big commercial developments.

Pure Fitout plans to invest €3.1 million in a new business Halt, which will make a non-toxic fire retardant treatment for timber fittings. Halt uses a new treatment, Burnblock, which starves fires of oxygen. It will make the product in a new facility in Belfast and sell it across Ireland.

Pure Fitout has links to developer Paddy McKillen jnr for whose Press Up group it has worked on several big projects, including the Devlin Hotel in Dublin, the Dean hotels in the capital and Cork, and Sophie's Restaurant in both cities.

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Matthew Ryan is a director of both Pure Fitout and Mr McKillen's Press Up group. Pure Fitout did not comment on Mr McKillen's links to the business, beyond confirming that it has fitted out many of its premises.

Pure Fitout, which was set up in 2015, said at the weekend that the business continued to perform well last year despite the Covid-19 lockdowns which hit many industries, particularly hospitality.

Turnover slipped to €15.9 million in 2020, from €16.7 million the previous year. However, the company maintains that new projects in 2021 will grow the business.

It is forecasting a 25 per cent expansion this year and next, indicating it is likely to need 20 new workers in the short-term to aid in keeping up with demand.

Ronan Higham, Pure Fitout's managing director, said he was optimistic about future growth once "the economy and society open back up on the strength of the vaccination programmes".

He also noted the business believed Halt would be a “game-changer” for safety. Its fire retardant uses natural materials, so is non-toxic and biodegradable. It has already been certified to European fire standards.