Hopes high for Carrick Business Campus to drive growth across wider Leitrim region in 2026

Two years ago, in 2023, the former MBNA offices in Carrick-on-Shannon reopened as a €9 million office complex, renamed Carrick Business Campus.

Today, the building is almost 45 percent occupied and is home to several major employers, with more than 280 people working there.

At an event titled Powering Up Scaling for Impact, hosted by Norah Casey at Carrick Business Campus, business leaders shared insights on helping companies scale across the west of Ireland and beyond. 

Speaking at the event, David Minton, Director of Services at Leitrim County Council for Economic Development and Regeneration, discussed the journey of Carrick Business Campus and its future potential.

On the decision by the Local Authority to acquire the building, Mr Minton explained, “The drive was multiple to retain jobs in the county and a vision for what the Carrick Campus could do. There was no other location on the island of Ireland that was mad enough to go together with the proposition to invest €9 million in Carrick Campus.”

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The campus currently supports over 200 jobs at Avant Money, which is evolving into the Spanish financial services company Bankinter.

“Bankinter has huge expansion plans within Europe and internationally, we want Carrick to be the base for those expansion plans,” said Minton.

Another tenant, Payac, emerged from the credit union movement. The start-up focused on payment solutions for credit union members across Ireland. Its market is now international, and it began its journey in the Hive in Carrick-on-Shannon.

Looking ahead, Minton highlighted plans to grow employment at the campus to between 500 and 600 people in the coming years, with broader development goals in motion. In 2026, he said, there will be significant changes to the building, expanding on what already exists in Carrick-on-Shannon while building on the success of the Hive to create a platform for companies to scale.

He also pointed to the impact of future infrastructure and amenities, “With the new N4 bypass; with the new sports complex, the Hive and Carrick Business Campus within one kilometre, we have all the magic ingredients not just for a campus but for the entire Shannon district.”

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Minton concluded, “My vision is not just for the campus, it’s for a district, it’s for transforming Carrick-on-Shannon using all of these assets over the next two or three years.”