History & Evolution
Click on the milestone dates below to read more about our evolution as a social enterprise, our training innovations, our collaborations and our social impact.
1995
Speedpak Founded by Northside Partnership with Business Community and State Support.
Contracted by State Training Agency FAS to operate labour market programme Community Employment.
Speedpak Contract Services to Industry begins trading.
1999
Speedpak signs 999 lease with IDA for premises in Clonshaugh Business & Technology Park, Dublin 17.
Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment provides grant support to build first training facility in Speedpak.
Company purchases Shamrock Rosettes business to build profitabilty and provide additional work experience and training opportunities to meet growing demand.
2001
Purchased goodwill and customer base of Irish Rosettes Ltd. to secure dominant market share in the Republic of Ireland.
2004
2005
Secured first of four annual contract for service grants from the Local Development & Drugs Strategy Unit in the Department of CRGA to support providing work experience and training opportunities to former drug misusers that remained unemployed.
2007
Commissioned research into employment barriers for long term unemployed people with a view to the development of a monitoring system to capture Distance Travelled to Employability.
Forest Laboratories provides their first annual Corporate Social Responsbility grant support to Speedpak. This local partnership us maintain and improve production and related facilities for our trainees.
2009
Piloted a new Workplace Accreditation Model (WAM) that converted workplace learning into an educational qualification – equivalent to the Leaving Certificate – and Major Award on the National Framework of Qualifications, in conjunction with Coláiste Dhúlaigh College of Further Education.
Distance Travelled Monitoring System trialled with all training staff on labour market programmes. The system captured over 40 employability indicators across 5 Arenas.
2010
Won an Arthur Guinness Fund Award in Social Entrepreneurship for our Workplace Accreditation Model of Learning developed for the long term unemployed people we employed as trainees.
Speedpak responds to the economic and unemployment crisis by increasing its trainee workforce by 50%, offering new work experience and training opportunities to participants on Governments new TÚS labour market programme operated locally by local development company, Northside Partnership.
Speedpak secures its first Community Service Programme Contract (CSP). The CSP operated by POBAL on behalf of Government supports social enterprises deliver local social, economic and/or environmental services that tackle disadvantage through wage subsidy supports. This was a key contract for a Work Integration Social Enterprise (WISE) like Speedpak, acknowledging the cost of creating positive social impact and resourcing the company accordingly to deliver a local solution to long term unemployment.
2011
Won a Highly Commended Award at AONTAS National Star Awards under Workplace Learning Category for adult learners.
Secured grant support from The Ireland Funds to build our first ‘Distance Travelled’ software database allowing us move from a paper based monitoring system.
2012
Graduation Ceremony held for 25 trainees that successfully completed the Workplace Accreditation Model of Learning Programme. Attended by Minister of State, Sean Sherlock TD.
2015
Research on Evaluating Speedpak’s Workplace Learning Programme by Dr Peter Tiernan (Dublin City University) was published.
2016
Developed a new Enhanced Skills Programme with industry partners (IKEA, Butlers, Bewleys, Realtime Technologies and Allergan) that matched local unemployed talent with available jobs in warehousing and logistics sector. Financed with grant support from JPMorgan as part of their New Skills at Work Programme alongside engagement by their Dublin based HR staff on the programme.
Graduation Ceremony held for the first group of 30 trainees that successfully completed the Enhanced Skills Programme. Attended by Minister of Education & Skills, Richard Bruton TD.
Dormant Account Funding secured from Government to invest in capital expenditure.
1,000 local long term unemployed people employed and provided with commercial work experience and industry led training since our foundation.
2017
Social Enterprise Task Force meeting held in Speedpak at which Minister Michael Ring TD. announced that Government intends to develop the first National Policy on Social Enterprise.
Speedpak wins a Social Innovation Fund Ireland Education Fund Award & The Ireland Funds Flagship Award to develop a new Enhanced Skills Programme leading to a Traineeship.
Dormant Account Funding secured from Government to paint premises.
Awarded funding from Allergan International Foundation to build a new Distance Travelled & Employability Database.
2018
Co-produced with Coláiste Dhúlaigh ETB and launched the first Traineeship in “Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Customer Service Logistics” in the City of Dublin ETB in collaboration with our industry partners.
Grant Funding from the Allergan International Foundation to refurbish our training space, allowing us create a Learning Centre that could properly house the Traineeship Programme being delivered in Speedpak.
Graduation Event for participants who successfully completed the first Traineeship. Hosted by Coláiste Dhúlaigh CFE in Croke Park.
Speedpak Contract Services adds e-commerce fulfilment and warehousing services to its B2B service portfolio.
Dormant Account Funding secured from Government to upgrade building security and improve health and safety.
Distance Travelled Research updated with new framework and indicators and renamed as “Employability & Distance Travelled System”.
2019
First National Social Enterprise Policy for Ireland launched by Minister Michael Ring TD. in Speedpak Learning Centre.
New Employability & Distance Travelled Database built with an Allergan International Foundation Grant and with pro-bono technical support from Perigord-AS.
2020
Secured Social Enterprise Development Fund Award from Rethink Ireland to support the development of our commercial businesses, with a view to improving our sustainability alongside providing higher level work experience opportunties that meet 21st Century industry skills needs.
Secured Dormant Account ‘Kickstarter Programme’ Funding to develop and deliver an Enhanced Skills Programme for 5 people with previous criminal convictions. The programme will provide commercial work experience and industy training and support them secure employment. The Kickstarter Programme is being run in collaboration with the Dept. of Justice and adminstered by POBAL.
Company remains operational throughout the pandemic providing essential services – warehousing, fulfilment and logistics – to our B2B customers that supplied PPE equipment and disposable catering products to health sectors both in Ireland and the EU. We also pivoted our Shamrock Rosettes business to produce and sell facemasks from repurposed cotton.
Training Staff, on our labour market programmes, furloughed during the pandemic in accordance with Government and HSE gudelines.
1,350 long term unemployed people provided with employment and industry led training since company foundation.