News Release -
Ennis Information Age Park Company Secures Major Linguaphone Contract
De Barra Education, based at the Shannon Development Information Age Park in Ennis, Co. Clare, has been appointed exclusive Irish Distributor for the Linguaphone Group, the world-leading provider of self-study and classroom-based language courses.
Welcoming the announcement Tony Killeen TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said “I would like to congratulate De Barra Education on securing this prestigious contract and wish them well in their new venture. I am also delighted to see that Shannon Development is continuing to provide high technology property solutions at their state-of-the-art Information Age Park in Ennis.”
The Linguaphone Group operates in 60 countries around the world and has helped millions of people speak a new language. The current self-study Linguaphone portfolio includes 15 major languages presented in a range of user-friendly formats including CD sets, MP3 web downloads and the new Linguaphone MP4 player language courses.
Speaking about their new contract, Chris Barry, Director, De Barra Education said, “We are delighted to have secured this important contract from the Linguaphone Group, “Many Irish people are now focused on up-skilling and we anticipate a significant opportunity for sales growth in the area of language learning. Linguaphone has always been a pioneer in the development of quality language courses and we are delighted to represent them in Ireland.”
De Barra Education will assume responsibility for sales and distribution of Linguaphone’s entire product range in Ireland. They will also co-market the Group’s new children’s English language programmes – Pingu’s English in Ireland, the UK and other international markets.As a result of the Linguaphone contract and international expansion of their preschool education products, De Barra expects to recruit up to 4 additional staff by the end of next year. A new website www.linguaphone.ie launches this week.
Congratulating De Barra Education on their success, John Keogh Clare regional development executive, Shannon Development said, “The achievement of De Barra Education in this economic downturn shows once again that, with the right infrastructure and facilities, innovative companies can continue to flourish. We are pleased that the services we offer here at the Information Age Park are a great fit for emerging technology companies like De Barra Education and we would like to wish Chris and his team continued success.”
Commenting on why they chose De Barra Education, Derek Price, Chief Operations Officer, Linguaphone Group said, “We chose De Barra from a list of candidates because of their strong track record in the education sector and their superb base at the Information Age Park in Ennis, It’s a positive development for the Linguaphone Group and we look forward to strengthening our business ties with Ireland.”
Founded in 2006, De Barra Education has established itself as a leading supplier to the education sector, particularly pre-schools and nurseries. In 2008, De Barra’s preschool education programme “Project Bubbles” was voted Best Educational Resource at the UK Practical Preschool Awards. De Barra is supported by Enterprise Ireland and is currently expanding its network of partners in Africa and Asia.
From Gramophone to MP4 ... 100 years of Linguaphone Learning as De Barra Education, based at the Information Age Park, Ennis, Co. Clare, has been appointed Irish Distributor for the Linguaphone Group, the world-leading provider of self-study language courses. Photo shows Minister of State Tony Killeen TD (seated) with (from left) Derek Price, Chief Operations Officer, Linguaphone, John Keogh, Clare regional development executive, Shannon Development and Chris Barry, Director, De Barra Education at the announcement.
About De Barra Education: De Barra Education is Ireland’s largest publisher of preschool and early year’s education programmes, currently supplying over 1,000 preschool settings in Europe. For more information visit www.projectbubbles.co.uk
About Linguaphone Group:
Linguaphone is part of the Linguaphone Group - a global provider of language training solutions, operating under the internationally recognised Linguaphone, Direct English and Pingu’s English brand names. With 108 years of experience in the global language training market, the Group has an extensive network of over 200 English language training centres worldwide. The Group has also helped millions of people learn a new language through a wide range of self-study language courses sold in over 60 countries. For more information visit www.linguaphonegroup.com.
About the Information Age Park Ennis: Information Age Park Ennis (IAPE) is the fifth location of the Shannon Development Knowledge Network comprising five world class locations developed specifically to support knowledge driven enterprises. The Park is a premier location offering everything from turnkey business, to flexible high quality office space, as well as ready to go sites for private development. This ensures that the needs of knowledge age businesses of any size or development stages are met. Phase one comprising the first buildings is now complete and almost fully occupied. The Park offers a unique managed environment for tenants and provides excellent accommodation, world class communication systems and office services to allow businesses to grow and expand. IAPE is one of 57 business and technology parks operated by Shannon Development in the Shannon Region. For more information visit www.shannondevelopment.ie
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