Established in 1968, John Fletcher Limited has continuously adapted and continuously provides a complete range of Electrical and Mechanical Services to an extensive client base throughout Ireland.
The company which is headquartered in Portarlington, Co. Laois has a reputation you can trust and their range of expertise covers the full range of Electrical and Mechanical Services which is clearly evident based on the diversity of projects which they have successfully completed over the past number of decades, they have a vast range of experience in providing these services on substantial projects for clients across almost all sectors, Healthcare & Medical, Tourism, Hotel & Leisure, Commercial, Research & Education, Industrial, Transport, Retail, Agricultural, Food and Beverage, Defence and Aviation.
John Fletcher Limited currently employs approximately eighty five direct employees on projects throughout Ireland, with a highly skilled and experienced Management Team, they exercise the highest standard of Quality, Environmental and Health and Safety Standards on all their projects, verified by their excellent track record and reputation in these areas.
David Fletcher, an Engineering Graduate of University College Dublin, currently manages the successful company which was set up by John E Fletcher, David is a grandson of John who still maintains a presence and enjoys an active role within the company.
“We are a long established family company, providing services throughout both the public and private sectors,” he explained. “We have always and continue to be primarily focused on the provision of electrical engineering and contracting services, however, due to a changing marketplace in recent years we can now also provide a mechanical engineering and contracting service, this gives us greater flexibility and allows us to offer a complete package to our clients.” “the mechanical engineering and contracting department is still small, we only employ approximately ten people here, our intention is however for steady growth in this area over the next number of years.”
The commitment and adaptability of John Fletcher Limited are vital ingredients to their winning formula, focused on providing a specialist service, they boast a great track record in retaining their clients and this is due largely to the manner in which they conduct themselves during the contract period.
“We pride ourselves on the delivery of all our projects within budget, on programme and to the highest standards achievable”, David added, “We do enjoy a challenging project, be that an onerous construction programme or difficult working conditions such as working within an densely occupied building, we are always able to adapt to successfully meet the expectations of our client.”
It is certain that the construction industry bore the violent brunt of the economic crisis in recent years and John Fletcher Ltd certainly didn’t escape unscathed, when the industry collapsed they cut their cloth accordingly, continuing only to meet the needs of their loyal client base, “when the recession hit we downsized dramatically, at the height of the boom we employed over one hundred but that figure dropped to less than ten during the worst period, as a company we had the experience of previous economic crisis and this allowed make the decision to sit back and wait for things to improve, we knew that by maintaining our core staff we would be well positioned to re-enter the marketplace when the time was right, there were a couple of tough years but thankfully they seem to be behind us now. ”
David has welcomed some improvement in the country’s economic situation, “We’ve certainly witnessed an improvement in general over the past twenty-four months, particularly evident in our main cities but it must be stressed that much of the country is still struggling to show any great prospect at least in terms of the construction industry where we are focussed, if you look at our local counties of Laois and Offaly, with the exception of a very small number of public sector projects, there is very limited activity in the construction industry.
“We have however witnessed a strong growth in our own business in recent times, our centrally located headquarters has been key to this growth, with the excellent motorway network around us we have been easily able to access the main cities in the country and take advantage of the significant construction industry growth in these areas, we are now only 1hr from Dublin, 1.5hr from Galway or Limerick and 2hrs from Cork, this along with our long history as a company and our excellent team has been the driving factor which has allowed us to increase our annual turnover four fold in the past 24months.”
John Fletcher Limited has a long list of recently satisfied customers which includes the likes of the Health Service Executive, Dublin Airport Authority, Irish Aviation Authority, An Post, UCD, NUI Galway, IT Carlow, Blanchardstown IT, Morrison Hotel and Audi Athlone, to name but a few.
Their current workload boasts some high profile projects, including the Interpretative Exhibition Centre at the General Post Office Dublin, a project which also incorporates a major upgrade of the electrical distribution system on this site, other projects include the HSE Scott Building Tullamore, HSE Ofalia House Upgrade Edenderry, IAA Contingency En-Route Operations Centre Ballygirreen, DAA Terminal 2 Carpark Extension, DAA Digital POD Enabling Work, DAA LED Lighting RetroFit Works to Hangars 1-5, DAA Aerlingus Cargo Building Main Distribution Board Replacement and many others besides.
David makes a point of stressing the importance of their day-to-day business, “We have a well-established small works department which continually meets the needs of our clients on a day-to-day basis, completing minor works, emergency works and general maintenance works, the effective and efficient provision of these services ensures that we continue to maintain our strong customer focus ethos”.
Looking to the future, David is firmly focussed on the continued development of the company to ensure that they move with the times and maintain their position competing with the best in the industry for the most prestigious projects being undertaken, “We are currently in the process of further developing our Building Information Modelling (BIM) capabilities, our in-house design team who work primarily on our design and build projects and also offer support for other projects are presently undergoing significant training in this area to allow them to offer full BIM services on all projects going forward.”
David is clearly positive about the future, “I look forward to the next number of years, I believe that a number of recent developments in the industry, in addition to the economic recovery, will definitely help sub-contractors and bring more stability to the industry.’’
David hopes that the growing confidence about the prospects for the industry will encourage emigrants to return home to Ireland to re-engage in the sector, a lack of a skilled people is one of the biggest challenges facing the industry at this point in time, he warns.
“The biggest challenge which I believe this industry faces in the immediate future is going to be resources, namely skilled labour resources, the quantity of construction professionals who left the country in recent years combined with the fact that enrolment in apprenticeships or relevant third level courses has been so poor for many years, has left a huge void in the industry, it is difficult to see the majority of these emigrants returning home and that is worrying.”
David finished on a positive note regarding the future direction of John Fletcher Limited, “We are optimistic that we can continue our steady growth as a company over the next number of years, any growth however will have to be sustainable and our primary objective as a company, aside from the profitability, will be to maintain our strong customer ethos such that we continue to deliver a complete service to our client, to the highest standard, within budget and on programme, always.”
John Fletcher Limited, with their attention to detail, loyal and dedicated staff, coupled with decades of valuable experience make them a true leader in the marketplace, they boast the knowledge, expertise and resources necessary to complete any project.
In addition to the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Contracting Department, John Fletcher Limited also boasts a long established Topline Store in Portarlington Co. Laois, this business is managed by John C Fletcher and actively serves the needs of the local area and beyond.
John Fletcher Limited
Main Street
Portarlington
Co. Laois.
Tel: 057 8623276
Email: [email protected]
Taken from Building Ireland magazine Vol 1 No 2, Winter 2015
