Dynamic companies that exploit opportunities and maximise efficiencies will survive the downturn and emerge stronger.

That’s the message from Seamus McGuckin, a corporate banking director at Ulster Bank, who says that “waiting for the business environment to turn around is not an option”.

Mr McGuckin was speaking during a briefing with Conservative MP and Shadow Secretary of State, Owen Paterson, at Tandragee-based Tayto, which has undertaken significant expansion in recent years.

Mr McGuckin, who has worked with Tayto to fund the acquisition of a series of UK crisp companies, said that the crisp company is an example of the “increased dynamism of Northern Ireland businesses in recent years which must come to the fore now more than ever”.

“Tayto’s emergence as a major player in the UK crisp market in the last three years really is a case history that could grace any business textbook,” he said.

“The management team at Tayto had a vision and brought us in to help them realise it. Their ability to innovate and to find value in their own and other businesses has been impressive to say the least.”

He said that Tayto was able to find “major cost savings and efficiencies through the automation of its Tandragee plant, placing it amongst the most advanced in the sector”.

“In addition, Tayto has been recycling oil used in the cooking process in order to heat its factories — another indication of its ability to innovate in order to produce efficiencies,” he added.

Over the past three years Tayto has undertaken several major acquisitions in the UK, including the purchase of Golden Wonder in February 2006, Sirhowy Valley Foods Ltd in December 2007, and Red Mill Snack foods in March.

Owen Paterson described Tayto as an “excellent example of a local enterprise”.