Businessman inducted into trade Hall of Fame

Businessman inducted into trade Hall of Fame

7 June 2023

CASTLEWELLAN businessman Walter Watson is one of four inductees to the Northern Ireland Manufacturing Hall of Fame. 

The well known and respected business leader joins an elite list of entrepreneurs who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame which recognises stalwarts of the local manufacturing sector.

The Manufacturing Hall of Fame — which welcomed its first inductees last year — aims to recognise leaders from across Northern Ireland who have made an exceptional contribution to manufacturing and engineering. 

Mr Watson established Walter Watson Limited in 1967 and has grown the business to become an industrial leader in the disciplines of structural, agricultural and reinforcement steel manufacturing. 

The company is now the largest family-owned structural steel fabricator on the island of Ireland and operates in five clearly defined market sectors, structural steel, agricultural division, reinforcement steel, overhead travelling cranes and steel stockholding.

The Castlewellan company vision statement is to ensure quality of supply to all customers across their markets.

The business designs, manufactures, distributes and builds all stages of any project ensuring a fluid supply chain and measurable quality throughout. 

Working from state-of-the-art facilities in Castlewellan, with offices in Co Kildare and Dundonald in Scotland, the company has the ability to provide a high-quality service to a wide portfolio of clients throughout Ireland, the UK and further afield.

Mr Watson was among the winners announced at the Manufacturing NI annual leadership summit at the Guildhall in Derry, with the inductees recognised for dedicating their entire professional lives to their communities, staff, and companies as well as significantly boosting the Northern Irish economy. 

As part of the selection criteria, inductees had to have started or grown a Northern Irish business significantly and sustainably over the past two decades at least, enhanced Northern Ireland’s manufacturing reputation through sectoral or product development, are highly respected by peers, employees and communities in which their businesses operate or contributes to community initiatives or charitable or sporting causes.

Manufacturing NI chief executive, Stephen Kelly, said announcing the four latest entries to the Northern Ireland Manufacturing Hall of Fame was a fitting way to close out Manufacturing Month, an initiative which, first and foremost, aims to recognise those people and leaders in our industry who go above and beyond to make it the global success that it is.

He described the latest inductees as “talented and compassionate leaders from across Northern Ireland.

“They have worked tirelessly to create and sustain jobs, ensure that their products and services remain innovative and at the cutting edge, and have helped put Northern Ireland’s manufacturing sector on the global map,” he continued.

“The hard work of these four leaders and their peers over decades, through good times and bad for Northern Ireland, means that this small part of the world has a thriving international reputation for manufacturing and engineering excellence.”

Mr Kelly added: “On behalf of the membership of Manufacturing NI, I would like to congratulate and thank them for their efforts throughout their careers.”