Draperstown firm Sperrin Metal celebrating 60 years in business

Sperrin Metal recently celebrated the 60th anniversary of its opening as a coop. Since then it has become a family owned business, seeing huge success and becoming a Draperstown institution.

Peter Gormley, Sperrin Metal Managing Director, explained the company has sought to help the community since its inception.

“It was formed by a local priest, Father Collins, as a co-op for the local community to create employment in '63,” he said.

“Then my father ended up taking control in '86 and it has been part of the fabric of Ballinascreen for quite some time.”

ABOVE: Sperrin Metal secured a Middle East dealership in the 1980's and won an export award.

Father Collins was instrumental in the founding of both St Colm's school and the Sperrin Metal, recognising the need for education and work in a rural area.

Sperrin Metal is now one of the leading storage manufacturers in Ireland and the UK. The community ethos of the former co-op is still very much part of the company, which takes pride in providing employment for the rural area.

The company has seen a lot of changes in the county since it opened and even had a part to play in some of Derry's proudest moments.

The company sponsored Derry GAA throughout the 90's (below), a period of great success for the team.

“There was just that unbelievable buzz in the community but also within the workforce.

“It was huge. There was this feeling that there was something coming down the tracks from winning the National League in '92 you felt there would be progression and then they won the Sam.

“We were the first ones to have the name on the jerseys when sponsorship was allowed and it was huge publicity, it really helped to sell the company in the 32 counties.

“I remember the rush for tickets and the amount of different people from nuns contacting you looking for lockers as well as an All Ireland ticket.”

The company's GAA affiliation was not limited to County Derry. The company has been active in the Middle East since the 1980s and when it had an office there it sponsored the region's GAA league and team in the GAA World Games.

“They did the world games twice [while we were sponsors], one out in the Middle East in Abu Dhabi, which was the first of the current world games. The second one was taken back to Dublin, which was in conjunction with the 100 years of the GAA.”

In 2005 the company faced the toughest challenge in its 60 year history when a fire wiped out the majority of its main factory.

“It would have been easier to close it at that stage than to reopen but we fought back from it.

“Around 60% of the factory was lost. The only reason we were able to keep on working was because we had other factories and we were able to get a plant in Ballymoney who would lease it to us on a Friday at three o'clock until Monday morning 7 o'clock so we were actually able to redeploy the guys down there. So we actually were able to keep everybody employed.”

Sperrin Metals now has three plants in Draperstown and one in Tobermore. The company exports regularly throughout Europe and the Middle East and continues to provide long term employment for many in the community.