Cara Partners, a Cork-based pharmaceutical manufacturer wholly owned by Germany's Schwabe Group, has announced a €6m three-year training and development programme at its Little Island facility, as reported by IDA Ireland, targeting a significant enhancement of technical, operational and leadership capability across the site.

The programme will be delivered in collaboration with a range of academic and professional partners including the Irish Management Institute, IBEC Academy, University College Cork, Munster Technological University, Irish Manufacturing Research, Trinity College Dublin and Skillnet.

Training will focus on enhancing multi-product capability, strengthening technical and operational skills, and building leadership and change-management capacity to support the site's continued growth. The initiative also encompasses structured succession planning, cross-training opportunities and sustainability-focused skills development embedded throughout the programme.

Stephen Kenny, VP API Europe at the Schwabe Group, said the investment reflects the company's commitment to long-term operational excellence. "This programme will support higher productivity and operational efficiency as our site continues to expand," he said. "We are also focused on developing future leaders through structured leadership development, succession planning, and cross-training opportunities."

Cara Partners has operated at Little Island since 1978 and forms part of the Schwabe Group, headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany, a global provider of natural health solutions including plant-based medicines.

The breadth of academic partners involved positions the programme as a model for industry-linked workforce development in Ireland's advanced manufacturing sector, combining third-level expertise with professional training bodies to deliver structured upskilling at scale.

Explore the full details of the Cara Partners upskilling programme in the original announcement.