The Galtee Group has literally risen from the ashes to reclaim its place as one of Ireland’s leading manufacturers of decorative panels and internal doors. It has also added a couple of more strings to its bow as managing director Eoin Ryan explains.
The second-generation business faced an uncertain future in June 2018 after its offices and some of its production facility in Ballylanders, Co. Limerick was destroyed by fire. But over the last two years, its owners have worked tirelessly to restore the business to what it once was.
“With a lot of hard work and resilience, we have rebuilt the Galtee Group,” Eoin says.
“The fire in 2018 was devastating. We lost half of our staff and turnover overnight. We also lost a 35,000 sq. ft. building which was hard to take. But we dusted ourselves down and got restarted in mid-2019. We were in growing mode until Covid hit. That was another setback, but we’ve had very good growth since late 2020 which is being partly driven by ongoing investment in automation.
“We are committed to a substantial investment in modern technology to make our door and panel production more efficient and more competitive. Our plans are to grow the business, and our automation investment programme will give us the capacity to produce three times as much and improve lead times, which have been badly affected by Covid. Like most businesses, we have experienced major difficulties in getting raw materials when we need them and have also been impacted by a sharp rise in costs.”
He continues: “As for our premises, we’re currently awaiting planning permission to replace the building which was destroyed in the fire. Fortunately, two-thirds of our production facility was unharmed which has allowed us to continue production.”
The Galtee Group was established in 1980 by Eoin’s parents, Sean and Marie Ryan, to produce kitchen cabinet doors for the local market. However, it quickly developed into a key national supplier. In 1985, they installed a veneer laminating line and commenced veneering MDF boards. With the addition of this new product to the business, the company grew substantially year-on-year.
Today, the family business is run by Eoin Ryan and his brother-in-law Pat Meade. Eoin’s aforementioned father Sean and sister Elaine are the other key personnel in the company, and are currently developing its PuraGlo and Greenr eco wood fuel and modern heating solutions brands.
The Galtee Group comprises four trading entities – Galtee Panels, Pronto Doors, PuraGlo and Greenr.
Galtee Panels manufactures decorative panels using sheet material like MDF and Plywood, and applying decorative faces like wood veneer, high gloss acrylic, HPL, CPL, PVC and paper to the sheet material. These sheet materials are sold to furniture manufacturers, joineries, kitchen manufacturers, fitout companies and merchants throughout Ireland and the UK.
Pronto Doors manufactures internal doors for commercial and residential use. Fire-rated products account for a large part of the output. Pronto Doors focuses on making the door leaf only and offers a wide range of size, customisation and decorative options for customers which include door joineries, door retail outlets, fitout companies, carpentry suppliers and merchants. Pronto’s manufacturing is Q-Mark and FSC certified for additional reassurance for its customer-base.
Both businesses have high levels of export to the UK. The Galtee Group supplies some of the biggest manufacturers and merchants in the UK with its door and panel requirements.
“Galtee Panels and Pronto Doors are our main businesses. Over 60% of what we produce is exported to the UK market. Galtee Panels makes decorative panels using sheet material for kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms mainly. Pronto Doors is a door leaf manufacturing specialist which makes fire doors for the joinery industry in Ireland and the UK. Thankfully, Brexit has only had a small impact on our business,” the affable managing director explains.
The Galtee Group has developed the PuraGlo brand which is a range of wood fuels supplied to solid fuel merchants and the fuel distribution network across Ireland. Products vary from wood briquettes and kiln-dried hardwoods to organic firelighters and wood pellets. With the demise of the peat briquette and changes being introduced at Government level around solid fuel burning, the PuraGlo product range will become some of the mainstream products on the market over the coming years because of their carbon neutral position.
Following on from the success of the PuraGlo fuels, the Galtee Group decided to develop an innovative range of modern heating solutions that are carbon neutral and environmentally-friendly under the Greenr brand.
Greenr offers certified solutions on modern heating systems and installation. Backup maintenance will also be offered by experienced and trained staff. The range of products will include fashionable and innovative solutions that are currently not common to the Irish market. A new showroom displaying these exciting products has just been opened at the Galtee Group’s base in Ballylanders.
“The showroom displays a wide range of specialist stoves which you will be seeing a lot more of the years ahead. Our Greenr retail brand has grown out of the success of PuraGlo, which my father set up on a small site a few years ago. Having met the challenges posed by fire damage, Covid and Brexit head on since 2018, we are looking to the future with renewed optimism,” concludes Eoin, who wishes to take this opportunity to thank the Galtee Group’s customers and suppliers for their continued supply as well as its staff for their hard work, dedication and skill.
The Galtee Group,
Cork Road,
Ballylanders,
Co. Limerick,
V35 TF76.
Telephone: 062 46898
Email: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, March 2022, Vol 8 No 3
