Longford roots, global reach! Centralis launches Dublin office

The Centralis Group - whose co-founder and Group Head of Corporate Services is Ballinalee man Gerry McEvoy - is coming off a standout year marked by steady expansion and growth, and one that has set the tone for its next phase of growth. Just last June, the group secured a US investor which in turn triggered a liquidity event that resulted in the market valuation of over €500m, they’re on the cusp of a US acquisition, and just recently, they announced plans to double their Irish workforce following the launch of a new Dublin HQ as part of a €15 million investment.

Read More: "Some of the best performing stores": Longford stores pick up Gala Awards

In attendance at the launch was Gerry’s fellow Longford man and CEO of IDA Ireland, Michael Lohan of Cloone, and Longford TD Robert Troy, Minister of State with responsibility for Financial Services, Credit Unions, and Insurance.

Speaking to The Longford Leader about the launch and the employment it will generate, Gerry said, “We currently have 30 staff in Dublin and we expect to have 70 within the next 5 years. We also have 20 in Belfast which we expect will be 60 in the same time period. Our Dublin office is considered one of our primary offices in that it was one of our original offices; the group executive team are also all Irish (CEO, CFO, myself), and we see our Irish presence as being a key driver in our ultimate success.”

The back story to the Centralis Group is a highly inspiring one. At a time when the sector was suffering the mother of all meltdowns thanks to the financial crisis, rather than buckle under the pressure, a number of AIB employees took it as their cue to leave and set up a firm of their own.

They started with 15 people across Dublin, Luxembourg and Switzerland. Today, they are a powerhouse of a company with over 500 employees across 13 different countries. The company is now looking ahead to the next five years with ambitions as impressive as they are determined.

“As a result of the investment (back in June), we have developed a challenging but achievable business plan for the next 5 years - businesses in our space usually plan in 5 year cycles. By 2030, we aim to grow our annual group revenues from €85M to €150M, increase our number of employees from 500 to 1,200+ across all our offices, and then be ready to look ahead to what’s to come after that. We are close to announcing a small acquisition (10 people) in the US and we will use that as a base to grow our US presence. Notwithstanding all we hear about the US and its place in the world right now, it will still be the world’s largest economy when it comes to financial services and that is not going to change for a long time!”