As Hunter Apparel Solutions Limited (Hunter) marks its 90th year in business this year, this May, as part of Manufacturing NI Month, we welcomed Stephen Kelly, Chief Executive of Manufacturing NI, to our headquarters. Our CEO, Simon Hunter Esq, MBE, sat down with Stephen for a conversation on the current state of manufacturing in Northern Ireland, discussing the challenges, the opportunities, and the importance of how making things still matters in a world increasingly shaped by AI and automation.

Manufacturing NI represents the businesses that form the backbone of Northern Ireland’s economy, and the scale of that contribution is often underappreciated. 97% of manufacturers here are SMEs. Family firms. People whose family name is above the door. (Source Manufacturing NI).

Yet collectively, this community accounts for record levels of employment, record international sales, and the only sector in Northern Ireland with a net trade balance.  Overall manufacturing is not an industry in decline. It is quietly powering communities across Northern Ireland, one production run at a time.

In this conversation, Stephen invites us to think about what surrounds us. The protective clothing worn by emergency services. The aircraft seat on your last flight. The data storage device in your pocket. The machinery that builds our infrastructure. These are physical things, made by real people here in Northern Ireland.

One of the most striking parts of the conversation is the sheer scale of what is made here. A third of the world’s first class, business class, and premium economy aircraft seats are manufactured in Northern Ireland. 40% of the world’s mobile crushing and screening equipment used in quarries and construction sites globally comes from businesses in County Tyrone. (Source Manufacturing NI).

Just a few hundred yards from Hunter’s own headquarters, Seagate Technologies, with almost 200 people holding PhDs is developing data storage technology that places a piece of Northern Ireland inside electronic devices right across the world. (Source Manufacturing NI).

Stephen does not shy away from the difficulties manufacturers face. Stephen’s role and the role of Manufacturing NI is to carry the voice of manufacturers into those rooms. To go to Belfast, London, Dublin, and Brussels and make clear that policy decisions have consequences for businesses.

What It Takes to Build a Business That Lasts

At 90 years old, Hunter is itself a testament to the kind of longevity that manufacturing in Northern Ireland is capable of, the optimism required by entrepreneurs to show up every morning, the ambition that goes beyond simply managing, and the community that makes it worth staying.

As Stephen puts it: “if you didn’t wake up with optimism, you might as well stay in your bed”.

It is a sentiment that will resonate with anyone who has built something here.

Listen to Episode 8 here: Episode 8. Manufacturing in Northern Ireland, Hunter Apparel Solutions 90 Years On, What’s Changed?

Listen and share your thoughts with us at sales@hunterapparelsolutions.com