Social enterprise cooperative FRS, which has operations across Ireland, has announced it is rebranding as FRS Co-Op.
Headquartered in Roscrea, Co. Tipperary and it was previously known as FRS Network.
The group has grown considerably from when it was originally founded in 1980 as National Co-op Farm Relief Services (NCFRS).
It now employs 2,000 people across a number of different sectors including farming, fencing, recruitment, employment support, government services and training.
FRS Co-Op
Among the businesses that make up FRS Co-Op are:
- FRS Farm Services: Employs 1,000 people, supporting over 2,000 farms across Ireland;
- FRS Fencing: Fencing provider employing over 100 people nationally. The fencing solutions they provide cover agricultural and equestrian, industrial and security, residential, sports and DIY fencing;
- Herdwatch: Farm management app and software in Ireland, the UK and North America, used by over 22,000 farmers managing over three million animals daily;
- FRS Recruitment: Recruitment agency, which advertised a total of 88,964 job opportunities around the country last year. These were managed by their 100 members of staff operating out of 10 office locations around the country;
- FRS Training: Has provided over 100,000 training courses over the last 40 years. FRS Training provide health and safety, construction, agricultural, horticultural, leadership and professional, employment preparation and eLearning training across all sectors;
- Turas Nua: Delivers National Employment Services in 13 counties across Ireland, as well as the Local Area Employment Services for Laois and Offaly. Helped over 60,000 long-term unemployed people to secure jobs and provided 614,000 training sessions to prepare people for the needs of the modern jobs market;
- WrkWrk: Helps employers to quickly and easily fill temporary job openings. Their mission is to make shiftwork work for everyone;
- FRS Contract Services: Manages contracts for government, industry, semi-state and commercial for sectors including environmental, quality assurance and agtech.
Speaking about the rebrand, group CEO of FRS Co-Op, Colin Donnery said: “This is an exciting time for FRS Co-Op, as we set out to build on the considerable achievements we’ve made over the last 40+ years.
“Since it was formed in 1980, cooperation with our colleagues and neighbours has been central to everything we do in FRS. We’ve always had deep roots in our local communities.
“From small seeds, our business has developed a reach that now extends all across Ireland and beyond, but our ethos has never altered. We know that we grow better together, a belief that is ingrained in everything we do. That is why we wanted the co-op aspect of our business to be more prominent in our new branding.”
He added that FRS Co-Op is a business which hopes to make a positive difference to the lives its staff, the clients it works with and the local communities.