As a member of The National Guild of Master Craftsmen, Allen Kenny Construction Ltd. has been delivering high-quality building solutions across the midlands for a decade-and-a-half and counting. Building Ireland travelled to Rahan in County Offaly and touched base with Allen to find out more about the wide range of outstanding residential and commercial construction services provided.
Since its inception in 2007, Allen Kenny Construction has earned an unrivalled reputation with private and public clients alike as a general contractor of choice, invariably delivering industry-leading excellence on every project undertaken.
Specialising in a wide range of works from residential new builds, extensions and refurbishments (providing a complete service in-house from site clearance and groundworks through to landscaping and paving) to schools and community centres, Allen and his team have completed a stunning portfolio of projects in Offaly and neighbouring counties.
Workmanship of the highest standard is guaranteed on every project large or small, in keeping with the company’s status as a member of The National Guild of Master Craftsmen.
A carpenter by trade, Allen is very much a traditional hands-on owner, who takes a keen interest in every stage of the construction process, dealing directly with clients and leading from the front. “I’d be there on site myself most of the time,” the amiable Offaly builder confirms. “Communication with the client is vital and flexibility – giving them options if they want to change anything along the way.
“We keep the client on board and in the loop at all times. We will make whatever changes they want to make and we will go through these and discuss what their best options are. It’s all about customer service and you lend them your experience so that they are in the best possible position to make decisions and get the outcome they deserve.”
Having previously worked as a carpenter, Allen’s diversification into offering full general contracting services was a natural, organic process. “I just fell into it,” he recalls. “I started doing refurbishments and extensions and on the back of that I got a couple of one-off houses. It grew from there and we kept getting work through word of mouth.”
While some might advise against setting up a business during the throes of a full-blown recession, Allen Kenny Construction hit the ground running, its eponymous founder acutely aware from the start of the importance of providing quality solutions in an efficient and sustainable manner to the customer’s satisfaction. “It was a good time to test myself,” he reflects.
“Today, we are doing a nice mix of projects between schools and public works, with an occasional one-off house to complement it. It’s a healthy balance and we are always busy.”
School extensions and renovations are typically delivered either for the board of management, the Department or Education or Laois & Offaly Education and Training Board, for whom an upgrade was recently completed at Clonaslee College in County Laois.
“We’ve just started a one-classroom extension at Killeen National School in Birr and are about to start work on a LEADER programme project, which is a community centre. We can handle any project large or small and are equally comfortably working on residential, education or community jobs.”
Stunning Allen Kelly Construction new builds are dotted across counties Offaly, Laois, Westmeath and North Tipperary. “We build high-quality, one-off, bespoke homes with a very nice finish,” says Allen. “We offer a complete build from start to finish, with a turnkey finish, and can look after all the groundworks as we have our own plant and machinery.”
The in-demand Offaly contractor runs a tight crew of four full time tradesmen ably assisted by a tried-and-trusted team of proven subcontractors, all of whom consistently meet the exacting standards demanded by Allen Kenny Construction Ltd.
While the shutdown of construction as part of the public health emergency measures implemented to combat Covid-19 interrupted Allen’s momentum somewhat, upon reflection he says he was glad of the opportunity to take a breather and recharge his batteries.
“We were closed for six weeks at the start of the first lockdown and, to be honest, those six weeks were good to me,” he admits. “I got a break and it was a nice quiet time. We got some things fixed up at home and I do a bit of dry livestock farming as well and was able to put some time into that.
“But eventually things starting moving again, which was welcome obviously because building is what I want to do. We were working on some public projects which were deemed to be essential works, so we got back into it again very quickly. We were re-energised and haven’t looked back.”
It’s fair to say that Allen Kenny’s reputation for delivering quality workmanship precedes him. This has been built up gradually almost exclusively through positive referrals from satisfied customers. Allen likes nothing better than leaving a bold statement behind him every time:
“I do like a high-quality finish and having experienced, loyal staff plays a key role in keeping clients happy. There’s one architect I deal with a lot of the time and he regularly comes back to me with more tenders. Quality, communication and relationships are all very important. All of my business comes through word of mouth; we have no Facebook page or anything and don’t really advertise. Your reputation is everything in construction and you grow that by consistently producing quality workmanship.”
Finally, is construction in a good place or a bad place at the moment, in Allen’s opinion? “You’d have to say a bit of both,” he concludes. “There’s still demand for quality construction and we have plenty of work ahead of us but the rate at which material prices are rising is a real concern and the budget putting another 10% onto the price of concrete certainly didn’t help.”
Allen Kenny Construction Ltd.,
Killina,
Rahan,
Tullamore,
County Offaly.
Tel: 057 9355666
Mobile:086 6012857
Email: [email protected]
Web: allenkennyconstruction.com
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, February 2023, Vol 9 No 2
