Avcom plans to more than double staff with international expansion

Avcom, a Dublin-based event production company, plans to more than double its turnover to €12.5 million by the end of 2025. The business, which had turnover of €5.2 million in 2022, expects to record turnover of €7.5 million for 2023. The growth is forecast to come from plans to open offices in mainland Europe and North America to expand operations in both regions.

Avcom provides services to design and produce corporate events. The company was started by Tony Murphy in 1980 and currently has 32 staff. It aims to grow to 70 staff with its planned new offices.

Its work involves stage designs, and providing the medium for people to see and hear what is presented at conferences, gala dinners, award shows, exhibitions and corporate town hall meetings.

Paul Murphy, owner and managing director of Avcom, told the Business Post that the company would work with Enterprise Ireland to expand its operations in these markets.

“We’ve had success in the past where American and European countries have held events in Dublin and Ireland that we have been contracted to,” Murphy said.

“They are so impressed with the service from us, as they have brought us on the road shows – whether it be European, North America or worldwide – because they liked the service and the expertise they got.”

Murphy said the business planned to partner with Enterprise Ireland to develop more connections in Europe and North America.

“In our history, we’ve gone as far west as San Francisco and as far east as Dubai, but primarily a lot of our global work will land in the UK, Europe or North America.”

The company built its reputation in audio-visual production for events, but Murphy said that Avcom has expanded to provide more services.

“At first you think about equipment, but ultimately it’s a service industry and it’s all about the expertise of our technicians delivering the events on site,” he said.

“We’re very much back of house, we’re in the background, and the thing about production people is they’re always in the background. We may be invisible in the event, but what we do is highly skilled.”

The business first developed its relationship with Enterprise Ireland during the pandemic. Murphy said the agency has helped greatly with Avcom’s expansion plans.

“They’ve given us an awful lot of advice and connections to consultants, and key people in key areas to help us basically raise the profile of the company and then penetrate new markets globally. And that’s what we've been working on for the last six to nine months,” he said.

“Enterprise Ireland has provided financial support, but more importantly they’ve provided consultative support. Before, we’ve pretty much looked internally. They opened our eyes to outsource the expertise to help bring our business to the next level, especially on a global stage.”