How one small company fought their way through the recession and came out the other side a much stronger and wiser organisation.
Ever hear the one about the small business that started off spraying weeds and eventually became Ireland leading traffic management company with a wide range of integrated services.
Well it’s not the start of a Tommy Tiernan story, it’s the actual tale of how the CHM Group became a leader in its field of expertise and company director Barry Ennis guides us through their remarkable history management story?
“CMH Group: Is Ireland’s leading traffic management service provider having started the business in 1999 from very humble beginnings. Myself and Niall Hughes initially set up the business and our first service was spraying weeds on the highways. From there, we developed an innovative format of cleaning the French drains on the highways which allowed us reuse the stone thus providing both economic and environmental benefits.”
This was at the very early stages of Motorway development in the country and these highspeed roads provided their own challenges in terms of carrying out our work. At that point in time there was no formal training available in Ireland for our personnel to carry out Traffic management and to do this, we needed a proper traffic management structure in place.
“Our research identified that the Highways agency in the UK had developed a range of high speed courses for traffic management and we sent our own personnel to undertake this training. The TII for whom we were working at the time asked us to carry out the work using these training guidelines and out of this our traffic management division was formed.
“In addition, we were asked to trial this training with a number of local authorities and following this it was identified that a formal approach to Traffic Management training would be required in Ireland as a result of which we formed our own training division.
“We are proud to have been at the forefront of the development of traffic management in Ireland and have to date been involved in developing all the training that is now available.”
Barry revealed that their experience in these services has led to them developing a range of training programme, which now sees them work with local authorities and other state bodies as well as private businesses.
“Having established a reputation for high quality work with qualified personnel we were then asked to carry out Barrier repair along the motorways. Again, this required having the appropriate personnel trained to ensure compliance with industry requirements. This division has grown substantially with the CHM Group now on the TII national framework. In continuing our interest to ensure that all work is carried out to exacting standards we were actively involved in setting up the Irish Barrier Association where Barry Ennis holds the position of Chairman.
“One service has led to the other and we are continually looking at areas that we can diversify into. The company has come a long way from when we first started,” said Barry.
“The TII were interested and supportive in the work that we did and from working closely with them, we were allowed to let the business grow organically.
The CHM Group like most companies were badly hit by the recession and found that period extremely challenging. Companies with whom we had worked constantly sadly went out of business and those who remained drastically reduced their work load. The business needed to be reorganised and the work force went from 120 to 25 though at all times the Directors were adamant that the business would survive. Over intervening 5 years the company reengineered its offerings to match the markets demands and has now remerged as a much stronger and wiser organisation.
The CHM Group are now known for their involvement in the largest transport and infrastructure projects, including the construction of the M50, Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport, and the recent joining up of the two Luas lines.
Now based in the Cookstown Industrial Estate, Tallaght, Dublin 24, and employing 75 personnel CHM provide a wide range of services which include traffic management, highway maintenance, vehicle restraint systems, consultancy and training, road and line markings, cone 9 software, traffic management design and integrated solutions.
The CHM Group as stated have worked on many prestigious projects around the country and this has saw them develop a relationship with some of the top building contractors in the country.
“We have worked with all the leading building firms in the country and our reputation for providing fully flexible solutions to meet any budget or project type has allowed us to tender for many projects.
“We support the needs of our clients and we have continued to develop a diverse portfolio that allows us to deliver an end-to-end service that is second to none.”
CHM work closely with their clients to ensure that projects are cost efficient, and that all services meet the highest international standards. In this regard, The CHM Group provides more than a renowned quality service, they provide their clients with peace of mind for the future of their business.
“We work closely with clients at tender stage where sample Traffic Management drawings are required and at the same time identify the most economical approach to adopt thus producing cost savings at this early stage.”
Every traffic management project has to go through the design stage and who better to go to than CHM for the design as they develop this through their software package called Cone 9 Software.
“CONE 9 is recognised as the first choice CAD software tool for traffic management. CONE can create standards-based, site-specific, schematic diagrams or scale plan drawings in minutes, and is an essential tool for any Traffic Management professional. We are the sole distributors of CONE software in Ireland.”
Last year, the company added road marking to their list of services and Barry stated that this was an area which compliments the existing services and allows the Group offer an economical approach to this discipline. Most white lining work requires Traffic Management so we are able to provide both services thus producing savings.
“Our services in road marking include Directional Arrows, Cycle Ways, Zebra Crossing, Car Parking Bays, Double Yellow lines, Disabled Bays, Bay Numbering, Pedestrian Walkways, Loading Bays, Lettering, Electric Vehicle Charging Bays, Playgrounds, Custom Logos, No Parking Areas, Arrows and Junctions.
“The market is always looking for innovative products and ways of working which produce savings and minimise traffic interruption. We opened our Integrated Solutions division in 2017offering a range of rubber products including Speed ramps, Pedestrian Islands Bicycle Lane delineators all of which can be fitted on the same day. This greatly minimises any disruption to traffic and does away with the need to damage the existing road surface.
CHM are a progressive company and one of the reasons for their success is that they are very driven to succeed.
“We are never happy and are always looking at ways not to only improve our services, but to offer further ones. The close working relationship we have with our clients has allowed us develop our own group in tandem with Industry standards and requirements.”
Contact Details:
CHM Group
Unit 28, Second Avenue
Cookstown Industrial Estate
Tallaght
Dublin 24
Tel: +353 1 424 2070
Email: [email protected]
Taken from Building Ireland Magazine, April/May 2018, Vol 4 No 4
