This past June saw Crosserlough Construction mark 30 years in business, so Building Ireland felt it was time to touch base with the Co Cavan-based construction firm through its second-generation director Niall McGaughran to learn more.
Business is good right now at Crosserlough Construction and they mean to keep it that way right through 2021.
In June, the family-run company officially marked three decades at the forefront of the construction industry, having worked on a variety of private and public projects down through the years – from residential developments and one-off houses to office fit-outs, school extensions, filling stations, crèches and health centres.
Residential developments have been the mainstay of the business since its inception and the seamless move into social housing in the past number of years epitomises their versatility and professionalism, forged through years of experience of rolling up their sleeves on site and getting the job done to the highest possible standards.
Building Ireland caught up with Niall McGaughran to hear more about the state of business at the moment.
“Right now, we have 13 full-time staff and business at the minute is good – it has been fairly steady these last 18 months to be honest,” Niall outlined.
“We were closed for about six weeks with the lockdown in March but we got straight back into it in May with some social housing work that we had on here.”
Indeed it didn’t take long for Niall and his colleagues to get back on to the sites come May 18th.
As is par for the course with Crosserlough Construction, the projects are being delivered on time and within budget, which is made possible by the dedicated workforce, subcontractors and suppliers engaged.
The business was started by Niall’s parents, Jim and Ann, in June, 1990, and they still remain the company’s directors today.
“They started out primarily as residential construction contractors doing private houses,” said Niall.
“They built it up over the years and we now have 13 people employed full time alongside a number of regular, proven subcontractors.
“We stayed with residential contracts for about ten years and then around 1998 started doing residential developments. We also went into commercial development around that time but then when the recession hit, we got out of development work for a while and continued on as general contractors doing residential and commercial work.
“The main core of the work now is office and shop fit-outs; commercial and residential contracting; and providing a maintenance service. We also undertake a small element of civil contracting. To this day, we still do a lot of private houses and extensions, while we’ve moved onto the social housing schemes with local authorities and housing bodies.”
Other services provided include school extensions and renovations as well as HSE fit-outs. To this end, Crosserlough Construction has been accepted onto the North Eastern and North Western Health Boards’ framework to tender for work and have already renovated rooms at Oldcastle, Slane and Dunshaughlin Health Centres in County Meath, with more similar projects likely to follow in both regions.
“We’d our first school extension in 2017 and we are on our sixth,” said Niall.
“Right now, we’re on an ASD unit extension at St Clare’s National School in Ballyjamesduff, which is a 13-month project, and a mainstream extension at St Tiernach’s in Clones.
“We’re also nearing the handover on a small social housing scheme in Butlersbridge for Cavan County Council.”
From small extensions to largescale developments, Crosserlough Construction can deliver dependable and competitively-priced building solutions on all sizes of residential construction projects. The company also provides its clients with a keen civil contracting & groundworks service.
Every client is treated with the utmost respect and each building receives absolute care and attention to detail from inception through to completion. Invariably, the end result constitutes a glowing endorsement of Crosserlough Construction’s capabilities and this is why they receive so many referrals through positive word of mouth.
The company has developed an excellent working relationship with Cavan County Council over the years and will certainly look to continue it moving forward.
“We have a good relationship with Cavan County Council and I think it’s because all of our projects come in on schedule for them,” said Niall.
“We’ve carried out school extensions and, between time and costs, there’s never a problem there.
“There’s also the fact that it’s the same quality all the time with the projects we deliver.”
As for the secret of the company’s success and longevity, Niall noted:
“Going by what Jim taught us all down through the years, it’s all about quality. No matter what you are working on, you have to do it to the highest possible quality and don’t let your reputation be tarnished by poor workmanship. That’s always been our motto and we live by it.
“You like to give customers something exciting – a high-quality finish with a lasting impression of quality.
“In order to ensure that our standards never slip, training is another thing that we push in the company. From site operatives through to management, we provide continuous training and we’re also zoned in on safety. Whatever you do, it has to be safe.
“Our systems & procedures are fully certified to ISO 9001, 14001 and SafeTcert standards for quality, environmental & safety. Health & Safety is the No.1 consideration when it comes to working on site; quality is No.1 for the client; and environmental awareness is a huge importance in construction today.”
“Over the next 12 months we’ll be looking to get fresh contracts and finish out a couple as well.
“We have just completed a state of the art culinary training centre fit-out for CMETB at Cavan Institute, along with a food grade production unit fit-out for Icecream Treats in Killeshandra, Co. Cavan.
“Food grade and hygiene fit-outs are a new space for Crosserlough Construction, which we look forward to continuing with into the future along with office and retail fit outs.”
Looking towards the months ahead, Niall is keen for the company to secure more new contracts ahead of what is sure to be a challenging yet productive year in 2021.
Crosserlough Construction,
Drumeagle,
Crosserlough,
Co Cavan.
Tel: 049 589 1450
Email: [email protected]
www.crosserloughconstruction.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, November 2020, Vol 6 No 6
