Bernard Walsh - Hot Irishman
This company has gone from being about 40pc to 90pc export-based in five years.
ENTREPRENEURS
Brendan Palmer
Electronic Recycling
Hailing from the same part of Dublin as Bill Cullen, Brendan Palmer left school at 15 and served an apprenticeship as a motor mechanic before starting his first business selling car components.
“It was an outlet on Thomas Street, probably one of the first retail forecourts in Ireland selling the likes of gas and briquettes. From there I developed a gas delivery round, collecting cylinders and delivering them to apartments,” he says.
“Ergas asked would I deliver to other shops and after a while I was making more money in the van, and this got me into transportation. After this for over 20 years I was involved in a substantial transportation business and warehousing operation – Palmers Logistics Management.”
Entrepreneurial spirit from an early age
Palmer said he always had it in him to own his own business. “I used to be designing company names on my copy books at the age of 12. I had a lot of uncles in the building trade working as carpenters and knew a lot of people who were technically self employed. It was during the ‘50s and ‘60s when people had to find ways to make ends meet.
“My mother took in home sewing, working as a sample machinist for the predecessor of Penney’s. She would be given the pattern and would make the first dress for the store. We children used to help out cutting off threads.”
The formation of Electronic Recycling
After the 20-year period in logistics an American company came to Palmer via the local Chamber of Commerce looking for warehousing facilities for electronics.
“It was a small company which wasn’t that good at exporting. We took them over in 1998 and that’s where Electronic Recycling came from.”
Electronic Recycling is based in a 10,000 sq ft facility in Jamestown Business Park in Finglas in Dublin, employing ten people.
“This type of business didn’t exist in 1998. What we’re doing now was driven by the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive, which came into force in Ireland in 2005. In 1999/2000 we were taking chips of old electronic boards and reselling them. Nowadays, 85pc of what comes in is reprocessed into raw materials.”
The company specialises in recycling of office IT equipment and lap tops, continually ensuring that hard drives are secure. "Our motto is, if it isn't shredded, it's not secure," says Palmer.
He admits when it comes to mistakes in running a business he’s probably “made them all”. “The biggest trait for anybody who is successful is tenacity. You’ve got to stick with it. The world will tell you ‘why would you bother?’ but you’ve got to get up and be driven.”
Photo: Brendan Palmer
