ISSUE 6 - June 2022
IN THE HOT SEAT
with Rachel O’Connor
Interviewed by Sinead Ronan Public Affairs Manager at County Kildare Chamber
Next year General Paints Group will celebrate 70 years in business. Tell me more about the company and what sets you apart from your competition? GPG was founded May 1953 by my grandfather Ronan. He was a chemical engineer and after graduating he moved to San Francisco where he worked in a paint factory for many years. The company eventually asked him to move to Mexico to set up a new branch of the business. He almost took the job, but thought to himself, well if I’m going to open a paint factory why not do it at home. So, he moved home and in 1953 set up General Paints Group in Celbridge. At the time, there were a handful of employees, and everything was done manually. Things over the last 70 years have modernised, but the essentials of mixing materials together to create the products haven’t changed. My father, Kevin, took over in the business in the 1980’s and he was Managing Director for 35 years. He is a chemist by background, and continued Ronan’s legacy of making only the highest quality paint. He also focused on marketing and building the Colourtrend brand through TV advertising. Kevin retired in February 2020, and I then stepped into the role of MD. Our parent company is General Paints Group, or GPG, but we are best known for our brands Colourtrend and Curator. We sell Colourtrend paint through 170 stockists throughout Ireland and seven company owned stores. Our flagship store is in Celbridge, and we also have a Newbridge store. Many of our stockists share similar ethos and values to us; they are family-owned, independent businesses who have strong connections to their communities. We also export to the UK and the US and are currently working with Enterprise Ireland on exporting to the EU market. We have recently moved into the online space, selling primarily to the domestic market in Ireland, the UK and the US.
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