Laois Chamber CEO Caroline Hofman caught up with Laois Chamber member Gillian Reidy, Company Director and Lead Designer at Penhouse Design, an award-winning brand and design consultancy located in Ratheniska, near Stradbally.
When was Penhouse Design established, and how has the business evolved in that time?
I set up Penhouse in 1996, in a top floor studio in Dublin’s Dawson Street. Today I work with a select team of senior designers from our farm-based studios in Ratheniska in Laois.
You can imagine for a branding and communications agency that there have been significant changes in those 25+ years!!
Most people we meet these days have a far greater understanding of the important role that branding plays in business development.
Some choose to DIY the design process when starting their business, then come to us in year 2/3 to add a more professional edge and maybe elevate the overall identity.
Design thinking is more highly regarded these days too, where the broader public perhaps understands the value of marketing and brand awareness.
Over the years, our business focus has remained constant – it’s always been about producing creative design and clear brand communications. How we got it out there has certainly changed!
When I first moved to Laois in 1999, we were still delivering designs via disc by courier on the train (email couldn’t handle the file sizes!). Daily trips to Portlaoise Train Station to receive and send our files to Dublin was the norm!
Now all these years on, we can all work from home in Laois seamlessly, and with great broadband out in the countryside here, all our communications and file sharing can be done easily online.
How has Penhouse evolved since it was first established?
How Penhouse has evolved as a business, is very much down to our increased experience. The growth areas have been influenced by the clients we work with and the referrals we then get.
When we first started out the world was less digitally-focused, compared with the huge amount of different forms of communication there are today!
While the essence of our role in creative communications is about understanding people and what they want to achieve, it hasn’t changed that much – the ‘how’ we deliver it is now vastly different.
For example, we would do a lot of work in the area of tourism, then other tourism bodies become familiar with our work and get in touch with us.
Before you know it, you become quite experienced in this area and then it might lead to the heritage sector, then maybe biodiversity and climate change and so on.
This is similar with our Youthwork clients and the State Bodies, two of our other main areas. Our choices for work, means our clients in certain areas evolve and we become known by the sector.
We’ve had a strong working relationship with Bord Bia too for a good number of years now, being one of their preferred design houses for SuperBrands. This has led to us working with a huge range of food producers and manufacturers – including some well-known brands that we are sworn to secrecy on!
Why did you decide to set up Penhouse Design and what type of services do you offer?
I had been freelancing when I finished college, got a job by accident with a company who then folded within a year.
The upshot of that meant I got some nice redundancy money, found an office in the city, bought a new mac and never looked back!
In the early days, I worked on my own, designing for local nightclubs and bars in Dublin city, creating their weekly flyers, new designs each week to encourage custom (yes, that was a thing!).
I worked with magazines, newspapers and publishing houses, illustrating book jackets and short stories and I designed logos (some that are still being used today) and many brochures.
Today I work with my core team – Leonie and Gemma both here in Laois and Les in Wexford, with a few other designers on our support team as needed.
Obviously we are a lot more senior and hugely experienced now and so our work has evolved accordingly.
Today we look after a lot more corporate branding, working with business owners and marketing teams, packaging design, reports & digital presentations, interpretive panels etc. We also often look at ‘naming’ and copy lines for new brands or products.
We continue to use a lot of colour and illustration in our work, which has become a point of recognition maybe for Penhouse.
We work with many larger organisations and government bodies – such as Lily O’Briens, Bord Bia, OPW, Dept of Environment and then locally with Ortus, Laois Tourism, Ballykilcavan Brewing, Portarlington FETC, Glamping Under the Stars, Laois County Council and Downtown Portlaoise among many others.
Can you highlight some key achievements and/or recent news at Penhouse Design?
It’s always great to receive awards and recognitions and we have been very fortunate over the years to have accumulated many of these for both creativity and business success.
Our collection includes Grand Prix wins, Golds, Silvers and Highly recommended – received from Design organisations, Peer Groups and Business Organisations alike, including Laois Chamber.
We have tried to win at least one award each year, or even achieve some recognition and we’ve almost done it too, clocking up quite a few!
Last year, we reached a milestone, marking 25 years in business! It wasn’t an ideal year to celebrate socially, so we might wait until we are 25 years in Laois for that party!
For any business considering locating in Laois, what would you say are the best things about being located here?
The work/life balance can’t be ignored. Close to home, with no commute each day, is hard to beat, and we are out in the countryside which is always gorgeous, all year round.
Equally though, Laois is in an ideal location for travelling to clients, or for hosting meetings with people from around the country.
We are beside the motorway, and have excellent access by rail too, getting anywhere quickly and easily. Laois is also much smaller than the city and very friendly, so it’s really nice to bump into casually, those who you work with professionally, on a regular basis!
What has been your business highlight to date?
To be honest, each year brings new challenges, highlights and fresh achievements. We get a real kick when we win a new contract, especially one where we can build a bond as a brand grows.
Just last year we won a tender and were selected as the design agency for the OPW. For us, this was a huge achievement. We’ve had many years designing for the Heritage Council as well as for numerous national tourism groups and so we felt suitably qualified to go for the tender.
Winning it was a huge achievement for us, especially as a smaller rural-based agency, and we are really enjoying working with the organisation now. And now it’s 2022 – hopefully a year of more adventures with plenty of highlights!
Business News
LAUNCH OF SHINE 2022 – The launch of Shine 2022 took place in The Heritage, Killenard, on Thursday 24th February. Shine 2022 will take place in Emo Court and Parklands on Saturday, 21st May, where businesses and sport will come together over the course of Saturday, 21st May 2022, attracting 5,000 visitors on the day. Visit http://shineinemo.ie
REGIONAL SKILLS MIDLANDS – The Midlands Region (Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and Longford) saw a 9% increase in employment from 2019 – 2021 according to a new report from Regional Skills Midlands and Solas. Read more here.
LAOIS CHAMBER NETWORKING – Laois Chamber returned to in-person networking events on Thursday, 24th February. This was a well-attended event, and took place in the Midlands Park Hotel, Portlaoise. An excellent presentation on customs and exports was delivered by Zandra Horgan of HFS Accountants and Customs.
DIGITAL TOWN AWARDS – The .IE Digital Town Awards 2022 are open for entries, shining a light on the digital achievements of local towns. There’s a €100,000 prize fund and the chance to showcase your local digital project. To find out more and enter online, visit here.
CONNECTED HUBS – The Government is investing a further €5 million in the Connected Hubs network, which now includes more than 200 remote working hubs nationwide. A new mobile app will enable remote workers and digital hub users to book their workspaces at Connected Hubs. Visit https://connectedhubs.ie/
Business Supports
OUTDOOR RECREATION INFRASTRUCTURE SCHEME – The Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme provides funding for the development of new outdoor recreational infrastructure.
It also provides support for the necessary repair, maintenance, enhancement or promotion of existing outdoor recreational infrastructure in rural areas across Ireland.
It provides funding for:
- development, extensions and repair of trails, walkways, cycleways and blueways
- improved access to outdoor leisure or recreational facilities
- development of outdoor recreational infrastructure
Click here for more information. Visit www.penhouse.ie
What’s Coming Up?
LOCAL ENTERPRISE WEEK – The schedule for Laois Local Enterprise Office week has been launched, with an excellent line-up events and mentoring opportunities running from 7th to the 11th March, Local Enterprise Week 2022 will feature a full programme of events, most which will take place online and are designed to support business owners in Laois.
More than 200 virtual events are planned by Local Enterprise Offices nationwide and include training workshops, information webinars and masterclasses with entrepreneurs and experts, designed to help small businesses and those looking to start a new business in 2022.
Organised by Local Enterprise Office Laois and supported by Enterprise Ireland and Laois County Council, this year’s theme is ‘Making It Happen.’ Check out more here.
LAOIS WOMEN’S NETWORKING LUNCH – This event will take place in The Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise, on Tuesday 8th March from 12.30pm to 2pm.
The special guest for this event is Rathdowney native Louise Phelan, CEO of Phelan Energy Group Ltd and former Vice President at PayPal who will be in conversation with Ronan Berry, presenter of the ‘Taking Care of Business Show’ on Midlands 103. Read more here.
TODAY’S TOP SECURITY – MJ Flood Technology and Laois Chamber member Barracuda SKOUT Managed XDR are hosting a live simulation of today’s top security threats on Wednesday, March 23rd at 2:00pm. Check out the full agenda and register here.
LAOIS JOBS FAIR – The 2022 Laois Jobs Fair will take place on Tuesday, 12th April 2022 in the Midlands Park Hotel.
Please contact caroline@laoischamber.ie or telephone Caroline on 085 2566522 if you are interested in exhibiting. The 2020 event saw 2,500 attendees with 100s of jobs on offer.
The Laois Today Business Briefing is brought to you in association with Laois Chamber. Interested in joining Laois Chamber? Visit www.laoischamber.ie or e-mail info@laoischamber.ie .
