The award-winning McCabe McGinn (MCMG) is a specialist turnkey interior fit-out company operating in the retail, hospitality, leisure, and workplace sectors. Established in 2012 by Kevin McCabe and Paul McGinn, Commercial director Kevin talked Building Ireland through where they were, where they are and, specifically, where they would like to be in the future.
McCabe McGinn offers its clients a comprehensive and bespoke service, efficiently and effectively coordinating all stages and elements of the delivery process from early design development through to completion and handover.
They are experienced in undertaking complex projects over short timescales and in occupied buildings. As a Principal Contractor, MCMG strives to deliver innovative, design focused solutions whilst maintaining programme and budgetary control.
When asked to reflect on how their Ashbourne, Co Meath-based company has evolved since its inception, Kevin admitted that the growth has surpassed their expectations.
“We set up in December 2012, our first year’s trading completed January 2013. We went from zero in January 2013 to €10m turnover by the end of 2016,” he outlined. “Following the growth of those first four years, and if it hadn’t been for Covid, we would have been operating at €10m for a couple of years in a row. We were on the cusp of pushing on and expanding but it has just been progress delayed rather than cancelled.”
There have been many significant milestones on the MCMG journey so far courtesy of mutually beneficial arrangements which have been established with household names such as Brown Thomas, Cineworld, Arnotts, Dunnes Stores and Kildare Village, to name but a few. Hollister, Benefit and Zadig and Voltaire are new additions to their valued client list.
The work the ever-burgeoning practice carried out on behalf of Brown Thomas was feted as ‘The Fit-Out Project of the Year – Retail’ at the 2017 Fit-Out awards while two years ago they spread their wings further by taking on projects in the UK.
“We did a couple of hospitality projects for a company called Selina which were trendy and funky hostel type arrangements with co-working facilities in Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. We also did a high-end luxury retail fit out for Thom Sweeney in Mayfair. There was a lot of high-end bespoke joinery in that and fine finishes.
“It is a decision that has worked out very well for us. People were sort of questioning the logic of it around Brexit. We essentially run it as a management fit-out company from Dublin, using all locally sourced labour and materials and sub-contractors on the ground in the UK. Guys that we have worked with before, even from the site management and project management point of view.
“We hope to do more projects over there. We’ve been tendering quite a bit over there in the last number of months. Unfortunately, that’s nearly all anyone has been doing for the last number of months.”
The retail sector suffered more than most due to the Covid-19 pandemic and, as Kevin referenced earlier, McCabe McGinn didn’t escape the negative repercussions. They were in the middle of a major refurbishment project for all of Cineworld’s 15 screens in Dublin when the pandemic struck but Kevin revealed that lately there have been positive indicators to suggest that normal business will soon be restored.
“A lot of our turnover was in retail and we had been starting to diversify more into the commercial and hospitality sectors. Retail was hit quite badly so our turnover was hit substantially but that was the same for everybody across the board.
“We’ve been able to keep our core team together and keep as much of the old structures in place as we can so that when it does open again we are ready to go. That’s really where we are at the minute, priming ourselves to get back on site.”
On a positive note, he continued: “Over the last three, four, five months, we have never priced as much work. There has just been an avalanche of tenders to price, and I spoke to other people who have experienced much the same. A huge volume of work being priced, to start in July, August or later this year. Whenever people get their cash flows going again, I suppose.”
McCabe McGinn (MCMG) company values are built on hard work, integrity and transparency, MCMG strives to meet its clients’ expectations in every regard, through using their extensive fit-out experience and range of established construction sector partners.
MCMG has a collaborative approach to working and values the contribution of others in the supply chain. On many occasions their turn-key projects have exceeded clients’ expectations.
“We like to view ourselves slightly as a sort of niche contractor,” Kevin said. “There has been a lot of bespoke joinery in the projects we have taken on and high-end finishes in those type of high-end and luxury retail outlets.
“It is all about quality and attention to detail and we try to source people with those qualities. A lot of the people we would pick up are from personal recommendations for some of the employment consultants we speak to. Rather than go out to the open market, we try to hone in on the type of people that we want and can deliver for us.
“We were actually in the process of expanding our team pre-Covid. We had made offers to three or four more senior staff to come in just before Covid hit. We have had to put that on ice but we are now re-engaged in that process.
“The expansion plans that we had 12 to 18 months ago were just on ice. We are getting back up on our feet again, getting everything back to normal and continuing with our expansion plans – that’s the idea.”
Kevin, Paul and the McCabe McGinn team are always on the end of the telephone for their clients so that they can achieve their desired fit-out. Alternatively, existing and potential new clients are welcome to call in and see them at their Ashbourne office.
McCabe McGinn
Mediterranean House
Dublin Road
Ashbourne
Meath
Tel: +353 (0)1 8499865
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.mccabe-mcginn.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, September, Vol 7 No 9
