THREE new BES funds have been created, offering investors opportunities to put their money into Irish businesses.
The Carlow manufacturer of precision plastic components, Mediplast, is the biggest of the three. It is seeking to raise £540,000 to fund a major expansion of its business.
Employing 30 people, it intends to use £155,000 in completing the first of a two phase expansion of its Carlow base. Another £80,000 will be used to purchase new plant and equipment with the remainder going towards completing the further expansion of the factory.
The second company to join the annual scramble for BES funds, Irish Fencing, is owned and managed by the former chairman of the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association Mr Terry Hobdell. It hopes to raise £250,000.
It manufactures gates, railings and fencing at its Dublin premises where it employs 38 people. Mr Hobdell said yesterday that monies raised would be used to fund the extension of its freehold manufacturing base in Dublin and to meet its working capital needs.
The third fund, which is looking for £50,000, has been created by the Dublin language training consultancy, Abacus Communications.
It intends to use BES money to support the final stages of its software development and the introduction of new products. Providing training programmes for foreign business people, the company was formed by a former English teacher, Mr Stephen Byrne.
