While Jetwash Ltd is involved in many sectors nowadays the pig industry is what it continues to be most closely associated with.
Founded in Carrigallen, Co. Leitrim in 1980 by Mervyn Richardson, Jetwash Ltd is recognised as the country’s leading manufacturer and supplier of high pressure cleaning equipment for the quarry, agricultural and industrial sectors.
Jetwash is also at the forefront of the design, manufacture and installation of all types and stages of pig husbandry equipment, i.e. pig housing, penning, feeding systems and pig production equipment for both the new building project and the refurbishment project.
The family-run concern, which employs 37 staff and has broken in the UK market in recent years, also specialises in the supply and installation of a wide range of water, effluent and slurry pumping systems for agricultural, industrial, commercial and domestic applications.
“We started manufacturing and supplying equipment to the pig industry and that’s where our core business still lies,” explains managing director Meryvn, whose two sons, Clifford and Keith, have followed him into the firm.
“We used to keep pigs on the family farm, which my wife Gladys runs, and that’s where my interest in pigs came from. We started out installing feeding and drinking systems in piggeries and slatted sheds, and the company grew from there. We then started making and supplying high pressure cleaning systems to pig farms, cattle marts, poultry farms, meat factories and so on.
“At this stage, I know every pig farmer in the country. They have been very supportive of Jetwash over the years and we continue to enjoy an excellent working relationship with them.”
A key factor in Jetwash’s success is its close proximity to the major pig production counties of Cavan, Tyrone and Armagh. “We’re only over the road from Cavan, which is second only to Cork in terms of pig production, and are just 10 miles from the border,” Mervyn points out.
Jetwash is committed to advancing and improving the equipment and material used in the development and infrastructure on the modern-day pig farm. The company’s aim is to plan for ease of management on the farm, livestock comfort and a high welfare environment in which the pig production can be carried out to its highest potential.
Jetwash, in consultation with the pig producers, design, manufacture and distribute a complete range of pig housing equipment, ventilation systems as well as feeding and water drinker systems.
“We can look after the planning, design and construction of the piggery… down to the finest detail,” Mervyn continues.
Jetwash Ltd is currently constructing a new Pig Innovation Centre in Antrim town which is being co-funded by Sainsbury’s, Dunbia and M Key Farms.
The new resource will be used to develop management systems, which will deliver the highest standards of pig welfare yet to be achieved on UK farms.
The UK market now accounts for approximately 20 per cent of Jetwash’s pig equipment sales. This figure has been undoubtedly boosted by the popularity of its portable pig buildings, or piggy cabins, among UK customers.
Jetwash is performing strongly in other sectors too. Eight years ago, the company designed and developed a revolutionary new high pressure automatic batch mixer washing system for use in concrete production plants, and has since sold thousands of these systems all over the world.
The Co. Leitrim-based firm has also designed, developed and manufactured a special automatic truck wash system for use in the quarry industry and construction sites. These systems are now installed on many sites throughout Ireland and offer many benefits in terms of cost-saving, higher efficiency and are safer and easier to use than traditional manual washing systems.
Jetwash Ltd,
Carrigallen,
Co. Leitrim.
Telephone: 00353 (0)49 433 9703
Fax: 00353 (0)49 433 9823
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.jetwash.ie
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 2 No 3, August 2014
