The first of January 1973 marked a very tough time for the company, Ireland was now a fully fledged member of the EEC. All protections and tariffs were now removed and Newbridge would have to compete on a Europe wide basis. Facing unprecedented competition, the company stays afloat, but is bought out by Harcourt Irish Holding and faces an uncertain future. However a group of local businessmen rallied around current MD Donal O’Rourke and purchased the company. One of those men was Dominic Doyle, a true visionary who would guide the company back to the summit.
Dominic was an already successful businessman who had sold his pork processing business and invested his profits in purchasing a stake in Newbridge Cutlery. The new board of directors would include Dominic Doyle, JH Hayes, Joe McLoughlin, Alan Rountree and Richard White.
Dominic was from the very start involved at the coalface of the business, never content to sit back he took on the role of production manager and learned the business from the ground up.
Within three years Dominic had remortgaged his house and bought out his partners, and the stage would be set for a dramatic turnaround in the struggling companies fortunes. Dominic had a clear vision of the future of the company however in order to arrive there he had to first set about the difficult process of rationalising both the company and its work practices.
He wanted to reposition the company as a high end, competitive entity, that would shed outdated work practices and reposition as a heritage brand in keeping with the best traditions of Irish craft work, design, and quality.
Dominic had a very focused vision for the company, he shed non performing lines and tight margin product, focusing on formal dinnerware amongst other high end brands. He had a zeal for advertising and understood any high end product must embrace the power of modern media. The company now started to make inroads into the UK market and secured many lucrative contracts in the hotel and retail sector.