Based in Ballina, Co Mayo, North Mayo Construction & Hire Co Ltd specialises in commercial trade projects all throughout Co Mayo and across its borders. Building Ireland touched base with company director Jim Mescal to learn more about the ins and outs of the business, along with some of its current projects.
Business is good right now at North Mayo Construction & Hire Co Ltd and the plan for its directors Brian and Jim Mescal is to try and keep things that way right through to 2022.
Established by Managing Director Brian Mescal in 1986, the company has grown to the point where it has earned a reputation around the Province for its excellent work.
Today, North Mayo Construction & Hire Co Ltd has many major clients, both domestic and commercial for whom they carry out maintenance and new build projects.
Building Ireland caught up with director Jim Mescal recently to find out all about the company – from its origins to the state of business today.
“We’re based in Ballina, Co Mayo and the company was established by my father in 1986,” Jim outlined.
“We have a building and plant hire business, both of which are currently very busy. My father is Managing Director and my mother, Beta, and I are directors.
“About 90 per cent of the work that we do here would be in the commercial trade.”
North Mayo Construction & Hire Co Ltd covers a wide geographical area from Donegal to Limerick, as well as a wide scope of works.
Of course, that’s a far cry from where the company started out some 35 years ago when Brian Mescal decided to go out on his own with his construction venture.
As Jim explained, his parents hadn’t come from your typical construction background prior to the setting up of North Mayo Construction.
“Both my mother and father’s working background had been in banking and during the bank strike in 1970, my father left the bank and started studying Construction Economics in Bolton Street, and decided to go out on his own with this business.
“It just grew from there I suppose and I joined the company full-time after I finished my degree in Quantity Surveying.”
Indeed, the company has grown year on year since its inception and it continues to grow even in these unprecedented times.
The Covid-19 pandemic, and the government restrictions which have followed in order to try and combat the spread of the virus, have hit the Irish construction industry hard these past 12 months.
The Spring of 2020 saw projects shutdown from the second week in March until May 18th and, at the beginning of 2021, all projects deemed non-essential were grounded to a halt.
While North Mayo Construction & Hire Co Ltd have been kept ticking over with essential works so far this year, Jim explained that the company is eagerly awaiting the date for all of its projects to re-open fully.
“As I said, the majority of our projects would be in the commercial trade,” stated the director.
“Hollister U.L.C. and Ballina Beverages would be two of our largest clients and we are very lucky to have both these facilities on our door step.
“Within Hollister, we’ve recently finished two phases of a three phase project in their existing facility. Phase three having been put on hold due to the recent pandemic. Hopefully when restrictions are eased and life returns to normal projects like this will be put back on the schedule.
“We have also just finished a project in the town (of Ballina) for McKane’s Pharmacy. It was a total refurbishment following an extensive fire in the premises just over a year ago.”
As well as that, North Mayo Construction & Hire Co. Ltd carries out a lot of direct work for AIB in Facilities maintenance, installation of ATM machines and several refurbishments of banking halls all over the province and beyond.
Things have indeed come a long way since Brian Mescal went out on his own three-and-a-half decades ago, so the burning question is what has been the secret to success down through the years?
In Jim’s experience, reliability amongst clients goes a long way in this line of work and North Mayo Construction & Hire Co Ltd always ensures it for its clientele.
“I think it’s down to willingness to provide the service and deliver what the clients need,” he said.
“We have a willing and very skilled team of workers here that are able to deliver on every project, and I should point out that without their ability and dedication to deliver the highest quality workmanship time after time we would not have the client base that we have today. A lot of our staff have been with us here for 20 years plus.”
Needless to say, the company’s staff is hugely experienced when it comes to the work it provides its clients.
Looking towards the coming months, Jim is keen for them to make that experience count once all of the company’s projects open up again as he remains optimistic that there are busy times ahead for North Mayo Construction & Hire Co Ltd.
“Hopefully, things will open up and we can get back to some sort of normality,” he said.
“The last year has been tough but we’re kept going and we’d be hoping that come May 12th, we will be able to get back on all of our commercial projects.”
Here’s hoping.
North Mayo Construction & Hire Co Ltd
Breaffy,
Ballina,
Co Mayo
Phone: 096 21567
Mobile: 086 821 0099
E-mail: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, July, Vol 7 No 7
