300 New Jobs Created by the Supermac’s and SÓ Hotels Groups

Supermac’s set to open 3 new outlets in 2019

Refurbishment and Redevelopment of The Killeshin Hotel, Castle Oaks House Hotel and Athlone Springs Hotel

The Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD today announced the creation of 300 jobs by the Supermac’s and SÓ Hotels Groups, owned by Pat and Una McDonagh. 200 jobs will be created in 3 new Supermac’s outlets in Wexford, Waterford and Kinnegad and 100 further jobs will be created through the redevelopment and refurbishment of the Athlone Springs Hotel, the Castle Oaks House Hotel, Limerick and The Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise.

Construction has already begun in Kinnegad with construction due to start in Wexford and Waterford. A further 300 jobs are in the pipeline in Letterkenny, Longford, Ennis and Portlaoise – subject to the granting of planning permission. Mr. McDonagh announced today (Wednesday) that he intends to spend a further €1/2 million on the further modernisation of the Killeshin. This follows on from the recent refurbishment and redevelopment work at the Portlaoise hotel.

“The Killeshin Hotel has been a real success story for us,” Mr. McDonagh said. “We recently refurbished the bar, the main lobby as well as the meeting rooms and under the guidance of the General Manager, Michael Murphy, the hotel has gone from strength to strength on the back of that. It is on that basis that I am announcing a further €500,000 investment to upgrade the accommodation in the hotel.” Mr. McDonagh recently announced a €1.5million investment in the Athlone Springs Hotel to develop and refurbish the hotel he purchased in the summer of 2018. The Castle Oaks House Hotel in Limerick was purchased before Christmas and will also undergo refurbishment and development in the coming year.

Supermac’s is Ireland’s largest indigenous quick service restaurant chain. The latest Supermac’s store to open was in Donegal Town, the 1st Supermac’s to open in that county. The company currently has 116 outlets across the country having opened 8 outlets in 2018. The 4-star SÓ Hotels Group is also owned by Pat and Una McDonagh which also comprises The Lough Rea Hotel and Spa, The Castletroy Park Hotel and The Charleville Park Hotel.

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD said:

“It gives me great pleasure to announce the creation of 300 jobs by the Supermac’s and SÓ Hotels Groups at six locations including Portlaoise, Athlone and Kinnegad here in the Midlands, as well as Wexford, Waterford and Limerick. I would like to warmly congratulate Pat and Una McDonagh and everyone involved on their wonderful achievement and wish them all the best in the exciting new chapter ahead. It is especially pleasing to see an Irish company creating local jobs, not only directly, but through the wide base of Irish suppliers and those involved in the building developments.”

The Minister added:

“Earlier today I launched the new Regional Enterprise Plan for the Midlands, the first of nine such Plans I will be launching in the coming weeks. Through these Plans, I want to ensure that local stakeholders are working together to create a supportive environment so that new companies can emerge, grow and compete. This significant job announcement today by Supermac’s and the SÓ Hotels Groups is a great example of what our local indigenous businesses can achieve and is a huge vote of confidence in Ireland’s regions; we can and must continue to build on this success.”

Supermac’s MD, Pat McDonagh, said that the positivity in the regions was one of the key reasons for recent investments. “What makes Supermac’s different is that we source as much of our produce as we can from local suppliers,” he said. “That starts with the building process and continues on to the supply of the food that we supply our customers. We have been using much of the same local suppliers throughout the country for over 30 years. We have long relationships with suppliers like Rangeland Meats and Western Brand who supply us with fresh product on a daily basis and it is this local supply chain that is key to our success and sets us apart from our competitors,” he said. “Not only do we provide sustainable jobs but we also provide sustainable careers often in parts of the country that need them. But we also become active members of the community as well. Another thing that sets us apart is our commitment to the communities we are involved with.”

The group currently employs over 4,000 people throughout the country through company, franchisee and hotel employees and is on a major recruitment drive for management staff in particular. “We will be engaging in a major recruitment drive to get staff for these new openings in Supermac’s and the hotels,” Pat McDonagh said. “We have career opportunities at all levels. We are looking for staff in the area of managers, chefs and a variety of catering, retail and catering opportunities. We put structured career paths in place and we are looking for people that want a career -people that will stay with us and develop with us. A lot of our franchisees in Supermac’s are people that started working for us initially,” Mr McDonagh said. “We have an extensive careers page with testimonials from company and franchise staff and managers at www.supermacs.ie/careers and www.sohotels.ie/careers.”

STORES

Store Openings:

Waterford

Wexford (1st in county)

Kinnegad, Westmeath

In planning:

Portlaoise, Letterkenny, Ennis & Longford.