What are your main product lines?

We specialise in slurry and silage handling equipment as well as mixing, blending and feeding equipment for livestock farmers. Silage shear grabs are still our biggest seller. Our sales are to machinery dealers across Ireland and Britain, into mainland Europe, and as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.

Redrock was in trouble before – what went wrong?

The previous management had diversified into the construction sector and had lost focus on the core business, which is agriculture. Some of the main agri-products had become outdated. The company entered administration in 2009 and was then bought by Fermanagh-based Steel Solutions. Luckily, the brand is strong and well known, so we were able to turn the company around relatively quickly.

How is the industry changing?

The main change in recent years has been in the application and movement of slurry from the use of dribble bars to the influx of anaerobic digestion plants where there is pressure to move large volumes of slurry very quickly.

How would you view 2016?

After a quiet spell, things started to pick up towards the end of the year. The dairy sector is a big driver of our sales, and thankfully things now seem to be going in the right direction. We also expect to see an upturn in business in the late spring, with farmers in NI purchasing under the new farm capital grant scheme.

Has the devaluation of sterling helped?

The reality is that there is no real evidence yet of the devaluation of sterling against the euro helping any machinery manufacturing company in NI. The bottom line is that farmers across Europe have been reluctant to invest in their business while markets have been depressed. For a lot of agri-food companies in NI, reliant on foreign workers, the devaluation of sterling has made it more difficult to attract new people.

Are you concerned about Brexit?

Everyone in agri-related business in Ireland should be worried about Brexit. For us in NI, we want access to European markets. For the south, it is access to Britain. In my opinion there will have to be a trade-off eventually as both the UK and Europe have too much to lose. I am hopeful that in the end it won’t make a lot of difference.

What are your future investment plans?

We intend starting work on a new project to make mobile shredders for the waste recycling industry. It will help the company to grow, and also hedge against some of the dips that occur in farming. We hope to expand the factory workspace by 50% on the back of this. The other major development is to bring more robotic technology into our manufacturing process.

Title: Managing director, Redrock Machinery Ltd.

Company base: Armagh, Northern Ireland.

Number of employees: 50.

Exports: Ireland, Britain, mainland Europe.

Main products: Silage and slurry handling equipment.