Lorraine Corcoran – Cosmetic Creations
Lorraine Corcoran graduated as a Mechanical Engineer from the University of Limerick in the late 1990’s having pretty much decided to become an engineer at the age of 13.
During her career she has worked and travelled in the role of manufacturing principal technical positions both in US and European Manufacturing Multinationals including: Abbott, Medtronic, Hewlett Packard, Vistakon and Boston Scientific’s European Distribution Centre in Holland. She lived for 6 months in New York following 9/11, working in the world renowned Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research focused on Schizophrenia ECG and MRI Brain Mapping techniques.
Lorraine was a co-founder of Team Horizon, a 2010 start-up, where her technical skills were utilised to consult with multiple pharmaceutical, moulding and medical device clients across Ireland and the UK.
Lorraine achieved Engineering Chartership in 2011, participated in Enterprise Ireland’s Innovation for Growth program with the IMD Business School in 2016. She was also involved in the 2017/18 Empowerher.ie Growth program, where she addressed the crowd alongside Norah Patten and other female leaders. The values of the Entrepreneurs Organisation, of which Lorraine is a member, reflect her direction in both personal growth and business learning.
In February 2017, Lorraine and her husband, Aiden Corcoran, successfully acquired Cosmetic Creations Ltd., the contract formulation and contract manufacturing business, in Claremorris, Mayo. Built back in the 1980’s by John O’Sullivan, Cosmetic Creations is a contract manufacturer of Skin Care Cosmetics, Toiletries and Fragrances. The product range extends from beauty skincare and bodycare to self-tanning products and wellness products in food supplements and medical devices. Using the latest in manufacturing technology, they deliver a high level of service at every stage of the process in bringing products to the market. They are the technology and knowledge behind many leading and known brands in the marketplace.
Pictured at Cosmetic Creations’ Claremorris headquarters is Aiden Corcoran, Owner and CEO of Cosmetic Creations and Lorraine Corcoran , Technical Director of Cosmetic Creations. Pic: Michael McLaughlin
They then acquired the former Yves Rocher manufacturing plant in Cork in 2018, the largest and most significant step in that strategic growth plan.
In November 2019, a €7.5million investment into Cosmetic Creations was announced, with the announcement of 90 new jobs. They have since been successfully scaling the company to a high-volume large-scale operation having added an additional 10 new brands and 50 new products to the market
The company works with four of the top five national tanning brands in Ireland and three significant national/ international skincare brands make up about 80% of their volume.
“Two large Irish/international high street multiples are now developing cosmetic ranges with us and we develop the full tanning range for one of Ireland’s leading fashion retail high street brands. Outside Cosmetics the remainder of our product lines are Food Supplements and Cosmeceuticals. We ship to fifteen countries, US/UK, mainland Europe and the Middle East from both our Cork and Mayo Plants” said Lorraine.
We asked Lorraine how the EMPOWER Growth Programme helped her; this is what she said
“ We acquired Cosmetic Creations in 2017 with a manufacturing site in Claremorris and the support of the EMPOWER programme give me the confidence to grow the operational function and to expand the business by setting up a second manufacturing unit in Cork.
This allowed us grow the team’s depth of knowledge, reach new customers and expand product base and volumes. I really valued the peer-to-peer support as I engaged with like-minded females business owners”.
“Our future plans for Cosmetic Creations are quite exciting. Enterprise Ireland will be investing in us in the coming year and we are building our own R&D and Innovation Centre with a view to creating and developing market leading products for both national but primarily the international marketplace”.
Community Work:
Outside of the office, Lorraine coaches the soccer and basketball teams of her children, Keela, Dylan and Clodagh. Lorraine also has a strong inclination for the creation of avenues to aspire and empower children, particularly young girls, interested in STEM areas.
