Furniture and Wood

Products Industry
Scoping the Irish Wood and Furniture Manufacturing Industry
James Corbett – GMIT Letterfrack
February 2018
 Referenced Previous Research
 Heanue, Kevin (2009) Aspects of the furniture industry in Ireland. PhD
thesis, Dublin City University
This dissertation examines aspects of networking, industrial organisation, innovation, and industrial
agglomeration in the Irish furniture manufacturing industry.
 Inter Trade Ireland – A Review of the All Ireland Furniture Industry (2002)
 Enterprise Ireland – Consumer Retail Markets
 CSO – 2016 Wood and Wood Products 2.1% of Total Net Selling Value (EU
6.3%)(28% increase from 2014-2016)(EU 6.3%)
http://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/iips/irishindustrialproductionbysector2016/
 There are over 500 firms in the All Ireland wood and furniture
manufacturing industry, that we have data on. This is made up of a large
number of small and dual-purpose firms (i.e. furniture and joinery) and
relatively few medium sized commercial firms.
http://www.iffpa.ie/Sectors/IFFPA/IFFPA.nsf/vPages/About_Us~industry-profile?OpenDocument

 David Jacobson, Kevin Heanue (2001) Industrial Districts and Netwoks:

Different Modes of Development of the Furniture in Ireland
Skills Requirements from Indeed 25/10/17
 25 Cabinet Maker positions
 75 Joiner positions
 399 CAD positions (Mixed Industries) 18 Specific Positions
 14 Upholstery positions
 260 Carpenter positions
 7 Project/Contract Management positions
 9 Furniture Designer positions
 2 Production Manager positions
 18 Kitchen Fitting positions

 168 Positions Specific to the Industry Advertised

 Overview of Research

 Employment
6,680 (2006)
 No. Firms 441
(2006)
Overview of Research
 GMIT Letterfrack Industry Data
All Ireland - Firms
195

200
180
160 106 98
140 78
120
100
41
80
60
40
20
0
Joinery Furniture Manufacturer Kitchen Manufacture Fit Out Other

 Broad Categorisation – Joinery (Doors, Stairs, Windows, Architectural

Joineries), Furniture Manufacturer (Furniture Product Manufacturers,
Bespoke Manufacturers, Designer Makers), Kitchen Manufacturer, Fit Out
(Commercial Contract Furniture, Fitted Furniture, Architectural Woodwork
firms)
 Other firms include specialised manufacturers and component and
material suppliers (Not resellers or retailers)
 GMIT Letterfrack Industry Data
ROI Firms
176

180

160

140

94 89
120

100
60
80

38
60

40

20

0
Joinery Furniture Manufacturer Kitchen Manufacture Fit Out Other

Joinery Rep of Ireland 176

Furniture Manufacturer Rep of Ireland 94
Kitchen Manufacture Rep of Ireland 89
Fit Out Rep of Ireland 60
Other Rep of Ireland 38
Total Firms Rep of Ireland 457
 GMIT Letterfrack Industry Data
No. Firms Northern Ireland

18

16

14

12

10

0
Joinery Furniture Manufacturer Kitchen Manufacture Fit Out Other

Joinery Northern Ireland 19

Furniture Manufacturer Northern Ireland 12
Kitchen Manufacture Northern Ireland 9
Fit Out Northern Ireland 18
Other Northern Ireland 3
Total Firms Northern Ireland 61
 No. Firms per County

60
56

50
46

41
40

32

30

25
22
21
20 18
17
16 16
15
14
13 13 13 13
12
11 11 11
10 10
10 9
8 8 8
7 7
6 6
5

0
Observations
 Categories are too broad, each division needs further
categorisation
 Dublin and Galway have the highest number of firms. Other
counties will require deeper analysis. GMIT Letterfrack is in Galway.
Potentially a high number of smaller, lesser known firms operating.
(Est 1000+ Firms)
 Current employment estimated at 11,400 by Enterprise Ireland.
Given the limited data available to EI, that figure is more likely to
be in excess of 20,000 directly employed in the sector.
 Very high % of companies directly reliant on construction sector, if
we can establish forecasted growth in the construction industry,
we can forecast labour and skills requirements for those divisions.
 Many new firms established 2008-2010