Established in 2001, Waterford Crane Hire is one of the leading names in lifting services in the South of Ireland. Building Ireland touched base with Sam Power, a member of the founding family, to hear more about the state of business at the moment for the company and the latest addition to its fleet of cranes.
There’s been “no let-up at all” these past few months at Waterford Crane Hire and Sam Power and the rest of the team in Ballindud mean to keep things that way right through to next year.
Set-up by Sam’s father Nicky Power 21 years ago, the family-run business has grown to become a leader in crane services and offers a range of different services that include compact 13-tonne city crane to an 800 tonne all-terrain crane on standard hire or contract lifting basis throughout the country’s south, south east and midlands region.
The company is the only crane hire business throughout the entire county of Waterford and, since its inception in 2001, it still remains a business with a strong family focus.
Building Ireland spoke with Sam Power recently to learn more about the ins and outs of the company which employs eight full-time staff, some of its on-going projects and its overall plans going forward.
“We’re very busy here right now. There’s no let-up at all,” Sam outlined.
“February was a bit quiet for us but, after that, we’ve been extremely busy and look set to be busy for the next few months anyway.
“Thankfully, Covid didn’t really impact us as a business all that much. We would’ve been quiet that March and April when the first lockdown hit – like everyone – but since May 2020 we’ve been busy.
“We had water treatment plants and general pharmaceutical projects that saw our work deemed essential and it helped us stay busy through the whole thing.”
Indeed, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the government lockdowns which followed in order to combat the spread of the virus, impacted businesses nationwide.
While Waterford Crane Hire felt the same impact as others for the first eight weeks or so, the company’s wide range of services helped in securing different projects deemed essential under government guidelines.
While the family-run venture offers its clients general crane hire services, it also provides a full contract lift service as well. This sees the company responsible for all aspects of the planning and execution of the lift.
Strategically situated on the outer ring road of Waterford City, the location gives Waterford Crane Hire ideal access to anywhere within the city while also provides excellent links to the N25 Waterford City bypass, Belview Port and M9 motorway.
Right now, the company is immersed in several projects from small and medium-sized to large scale projects, as Sam himself explained.
“We’re doing a bit of everything at the minute and the big jobs that we have would be a couple of nursing homes here in Waterford and the new Bausch & Lomb extension as well,” he stated.
“We also have pharmaceutical projects in Waterford and one big job in Belview which is starting soon is a new cheese plant for Glanbia. So, it’s all go at the minute.”
As for the machinery it operates with, Waterford Crane Hire currently has various cranes in its fleet and are available to clients on standard hire or contract lifting basis throughout Waterford, Kilkenny, Wexford, Tipperary, Carlow and East Cork, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Three new additions to the fleet came this year and Sam can’t rule out adding more again next year given the current rate of business.
“As for the possibility of adding some more new cranes, we’ll see how we’re getting on in a couple of months. We’re happy with what we have at the moment, so we’ll see what happens.”
So, all of that considered, the burning question is what has been the secret behind the success of the company over the past two decades?
How has a small start-up grown into a thriving company which is renowned for its excellent service across a wide range of services?
For Sam, much of it has come down to adopting the correct approach from ‘Day One’ and building on it by providing clients with a crane hire that’s second to none.
“Our clients know they can trust us to get the job done right for them,” he said.
“We keep it local and we’re also trustworthy and reliable. We look after the client as best as we can here and I think that’s something that they definitely appreciate.”
As well as that, safety has always been the top priority at Waterford Crane Hire since the very beginning back in 2001.
The company itself takes pride in keeping all of its equipment maintained to the very highest standard, serviced and tested regularly.
As well as this, the Powers have always endeavoured to make sure that all employees receive on-going training to carry up to date necessary tickets and certificates.
Looking towards the months ahead for the business, Sam says he’s keen for more of the same business-wise as his family company’s cranes are in high demand at the moment.
So much so, that they could well be set to add another to the fleet down the line.
“We just want to try and keep going the way we have been.
“Business is good and we can’t complain at all. Hopefully, we can add another crane here again next year all going well, but we’ll just have to see where we are when the time comes,” he concluded.
Waterford Crane Hire
Mill Lane Complex,
Ballindud,
Co Waterford
Phone: 051 59 59 47
Mob: 086 600 2424
Web: www.waterfordcranehire.ie
Email: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, October 2022, Vol 8 No 10
