SIOEN Ireland, or Garméidí Teo as it is better known locally, based in the heart of the Gaoth Dobhair Industrial Estate, will bid a fond farewell to one of its longest serving employees who will retire after 38 years working with the business.
Gaetan Frys steps down as general manager on Monday, his 67th birthday. A Belgian, he has been with the company throughout its growth to becoming one of the largest specialist clothing suppliers in Ireland.
Gaetan, a father of two and an avid cyclist, joined Sioen in October 1984. It had twenty seven employees and over the next decade the workforce grew to 125 people, with two factories, one in Gweedore and the other in Falcarragh.
“I had worked in Sligo with Easkey Fashions between 1980 and 1984 and I had no plans to come back when I went home to Belgium.”
After a few months back in Belgium he got word that a Belgian company was looking for a general manager for their company based in the north west Donegal.
“I rang them up and got to meet the owners of that company, Mr and Mrs Sioen, who had a company specialised in technical textiles. The professionalism and the charisma of those people convinced me to come back to Ireland and give it a go for three years. That was in 1984 and I am still here.”
Things didn’t start too well and it took a while to get production going properly. There were technical difficulties for the high frequency welding techniques used for the waterproofness of the seams.
“There were some issues with the staff as well, but that got sorted out quickly once the machines got working well. In fact, it become an enjoyable place to work. We had installed a fair production bonus scheme and some workers were making good money.
“The girls were having great fun and at once stage we were making 2,000 trousers and 800 jackets per day. It became a good place to work, and we needed more staff,” he said.
At that time, there were almost 1,500 people working the factories in Gweedore and it was difficult to get workers so Sioen took over a Swedish company based in Falcarragh.
“It’s been a very interesting and, at times, challenging experience,” he said.
“I remember one time our manager Danny Gillespie ringing the Gay Byrne radio show in the early nineties to tell him we were having difficulty getting jobs filled. He gave the story a good run on the radio and we got the workers. As a thank you, I sent him one of our waterproof jackets,” he said.
More than 1,000 people have passed through the Sioen factory over the past 38 years, many of whom were young women who left school early.
“Many of their families went on to receive a good education thanks to parents who worked hard in factories like Sioen. Five or six couples met and married during their time in with us,” he said.
Gaetan Frys has seen a lot of changes in traditional manufacturing during his time in Donegal. The clothing sector, in particular, has shipped some huge knocks over the years.
The increased competition in the market and the increased costs of manufacturing in Ireland led to Sioen acquiring factories in Tunisia, Romania and Indonesia. This ultimately led to redundancies in Donegal as the company had to diversify and remodel its business.
STRESSFUL
“That was my most stressful time here – when people were told that they were losing their jobs. The first time in particular, when 65 people were involved in 2002, was very tough.
“There was also the time we were making protective NBC suits for civilians in the war in Israel. We were under huge pressure to deliver while we were getting some bad letters from anti-war people,” he said.
Sioen Ireland now employs 12 people and Gweedore is, mostly, a sales distribution site for the Irish market North and South. However, it also services life jackets, does some re-packing for the farming industry where it would be a leader in the field and deals with safety distributors who supply their customers with safety equipment.
“Last year we won a contract to supply Donegal Fire Brigade with their fire kits and the whole team in Gweedore are very proud of that – We also supply Kerry Fire Brigade, Sligo Fire Brigade, Leitrim and we provide Dublin Airport with their fire kit.”
While Gaetan first came to Donegal to manage a manufacturing facility he is also their leading salesman.
“When I started we were only making products for our parent company in Belgium and I did not have to worry about sales. In the late eighties work dried up for a while and I started to sell.
“The first big order I got was 1,000 rain suits for An Post in 1990. That was a major breakthrough for us,” he recalled.
A long line of orders from a wide range of organisations, including Telecom Eireann, Eircom, the Irish coastguard, the Ambulance Service, the Irish Prison Service, the PSNI, the Irish Army and the majority of county councils, followed.
“Most of the professional fishermen in Ireland would wear Mullion life jackets specially designed for their extreme working conditions. It certainly saved a few lives.”
Last year, Sioen won a contract to deliver the majority of the new Garda uniform, namely, its protective waterproof jackets and trousers, softshells and Hi-Vis jackets.
“We supply our customer JBS in Monaghan who prepare the full manpack for each guard,” said Gaetan.
“We first started to work with the gardaí in 1998 when we supplied their motorbike units with new jackets and trousers. It was the year the Tour De France came to Ireland and they needed more modern gear,” he recalled.
The Sioen Industries group is still a family owned business. The three daughters own the company now with the oldest, Michelle, being a very good CEO. Both parents have passed away.
“The employees would have a found memory of Mrs Sioen or Madame as she was called. She was a fantastic lady and left a great legacy. The staff were very nervous when she was beside them but she was not afraid to sit on a machine and to show the girls how an operation was done.”
The group had a turnover of €670 million last year. It was €60 million in 1984.
“Over the years Údarás na Gaeltachta have been very supportive and helpful to me and for that I’m grateful.”
On Thursday night there was a small retirement function for Gaetan in Gweedore while he will lunch with his cycling friends, Vinnie McGroary, Terry McNamara and Pat Traynor after completing an 80k cycle on Saturday.
“Officially I retire next week but the company has asked me to stay on for a while to wrap up a few things. We plan to move to Belgium but we have a house in Gweedore and we’ll come back often,” Gaetan added.
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere
SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT EDITION TODAY
and get access to our archive editions dating back to 2007(CLICK ON THE TITLE BELOW TO SUBSCRIBE)