PROFILE
Roger Pannell, managing director Unicorn Group, Rory Clarke, head of acquisition, Danske Bank, Jim Kirkwood, acquisition manager, Danske Bank
Danske Bank supports investment in Unicorn W
hen the Unicorn Group was announced as the buyer of the former Coca Cola factory site in Lambeg, outside Lisburn, it was viewed as an ambitious move by a fast-growing company that few in the Northern Ireland market knew much about. First founded in 1997 as Unicorn Containers, Unicorn Group is now a conglomerate of manufacturing companies that creates and distributes a diverse range of innovative, ethical
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products, including medical and recycling bins, washroom products and floor tiles. As a predominantly export based company it is perhaps no surprise that Unicorn is not a household name in its home market. But over the last number of years the business has gone through a period of rapid growth through sales growth and company acquisitions, acquiring six separate trading businesses and growing them into highly profitable enterprises. Now employing 85 people across three
businesses, Unicorn’s growth trajectory led the group’ to decide to make its major investment and move its existing manufacturing sites in Lisburn and Markethill to the 17.5 acre site that Coca Cola left in 2008. “We were rapidly outgrowing our existing facilities and the Lambeg site is an opportunity for us to have all our business production and administration in one location,” says Roger Pannell, managing director of the Unicorn Group.