Element Six, a world leader in synthetic diamond super-materials and a De Beers Group company, is to create 100 jobs at its Shannon facility as part of a €7 million investment at the plant this year. The investment will bring to €40million the overall spend by Element Six at Shannon over a four year period. The positions are in the areas of supply chain, engineering and manufacturing, with recruitment already underway and all posts set to be filled in the first half of this year. It is the latest round of recruitment at the company and will bring overall employment at Element Six in Shannon to 550. The company has invested heavily in infrastructural projects at the plant over the past three years, including the installation of large-scale diamond synthesis presses to produce diamond materials for industrial use. In addition, high end CNC machines have been designed and installed to process these materials. The announcement signals another round of investment that will enable the synthesis and processing of diamond materials at the Shannon plant for use principally in the oil and gas industry. “This is a significant moment for Element Six and its staff in Shannon as it is validation of the hard work of our management and staff here in turning the business around. Thanks to a culture of continuous improvement, the use of world-class manufacturing techniques and efficiency and quality gains, our Shannon operations have now taken on additional, global cutting-edge processes, leading to this investment and considerably enhanced employment levels,” said the company’s global CEO, Walter Hühn. Ken Sullivan, Element Six executive director of operations, said the investment signals that the company has entered a new era in terms of its Irish operations. "A strong spirit of partnership has sustained us through a very challenging period and, in no small part thanks to the commitment of staff to this partnership approach, we have emerged as one of the biggest and best employers in the Shannon region. Element Six is a really exciting place to work and remains one of the best employers in the region. We have many opportunities for career progression at all levels and across multiple disciplines," added Sullivan.