Pandemic aside, the construction industry is in a relatively healthy state as the workload has increased to Celtic Tiger standards. However, there is a precautious approach within the industry presently, in comparison to the early 2000’s.
The recession hit many companies hard and unfortunately some were unable to come through those tough times, but it also afforded the opportunity for others to start up their own business.
For this month’s edition of Building Ireland magazine, we profile a company that is celebrating ten years in business this year and they are a testament of what can be achieved in difficult times.
Meath based Kercon Construction is a family run business that specialises in building, civil engineering and facilities management.
The company works across a range of sectors including industrial, commercial, civil engineering, educational, healthcare, residential, technological, arts, heritage and culture, mining enabling works and other general construction services.
Managing Director & Quantity Surveyor Patrick Kerrigan and Environmental, Health & Safety Manager Petrina McArdle took time out of their busy schedules to speak to us about the current economic climate within the construction industry and the no little matter of receiving recognition at a recent prestigious awards event.
Kercon Construction received a distinction at the National Irish Safety Organisation (NISO) Awards 2020. The National Irish Safety Organisation Limited, trading as National Irish Safety Organisation and known as NISO and their mission is to create the conditions where Irish workplaces are among the safest and healthiest in Europe through:
The provision of leading information, advisory and training services.; the promotion of a culture of excellence in workplace health & safety; playing a leading role in advancing the national health & safety agenda; helping members develop a culture of health and safety in their workplace.
“This was our first year entering the NISO Safety Awards; receiving a distinction is wonderful validation of our ongoing hard work and commitment towards health and safety. It demonstrates the positive and proactive culture of safety management that exists within Kercon Construction.
The All-Ireland Occupational H&S Awards recognise the highest standard of health and safety excellence in the industry,” said Petrina who led the team in obtaining such a prestigious recognition.
“We have made a determined effort to improve our standard of health and safety over the last few years. We put a lot of work into our NISO award submission and even though there were only two of us working on the actual awards submission directly, it was very much down to a year-round team effort and everyone in the company played their part.”
Petrina stressed that when it comes to safety, there are no corners cut and nothing left to chance at Kercon Construction.
“We place a tremendous emphasis on health and safety, our Safety Management System is externally accredited by Safe-T-Cert, for the fifth year running we have obtained an A-Grade and have scored in the top 10% of entrants nationally, that too is down to our dedicated employees, sub-contractors and suppliers.”
Quality is another area that the company excels in and they have achieved an ISO 9001:2015 Accredited Quality Management System which is externally audited and approved by the National Standards Authority of Ireland. Kercon Construction also recognise that protection of the environment requires construction activities to be conducted in a sustainable manner. They are fully committed to best environmental practice and take responsibility for their own environmental performance.
Despite having to put a number of projects on hold due to the lockdown, Kercon Construction are still live on a number of essential projects and Patrick revealed that they are pleased with the workload at the moment.
“We are relatively busy despite the lockdown, we have a number of projects ongoing, which we are working hard to progress amid the Covid-19 Pandemic.” said Patrick.
However, given how the last 12 months have slowed the industry down in some respects, Patrick added that they have used that time to carry out a wide range of training courses for their employees.
“We ensure that all of our employees receive the necessary training that they require to carry out their duties to the highest standard possible. Our employees completed a number of online courses over the past year and any training that they required, they received.”
“We are fully committed to ensuring that the highest standards of workmanship are maintained on all projects, which is why we pride ourselves on the personal attention provided to each project by the Kercon Team. This ensures we deliver projects on time, to the highest standard and within budget, all whilst concentrating on the needs of the client.
“From project inception to completion, our competent staff are always on hand to offer expert advice. The backbone of our company is to complete projects to a high standard, and that has enabled us to gain repeat client contracts. By combining a passion for quality craftsmanship, with expertise in sourcing high-quality and cost-effective materials, we complete all our building and civil engineering contracting services to the very highest of professional and regulatory standards.”
With 30 people employed directly and a wide range of plant and machinery at their disposal, Kercon Construction are in an admirable position, with the ability to fulfil the role of Main Contractor and Project Supervisor for the Construction Stage on many of their projects.
“In terms of Plant and Machinery, we upgrade and extend our fleet on a regular basis. Our fleet ranges from 360 excavators to dozers, site and articulated dumptrucks, rollers, teleporters, a range of surveying equipment, etc. For example; In 2020 we added a new 360 excavator, a concrete bottle truck, a robotic total station and we also upgraded our fleet of vehicles.” added Patrick.
“We utilise a number of sub-contractors across our projects. These are companies that we have been working with for years, we have built up a good relationship with them and they know the standard that we expect from them. We are fortunate to have a loyal and skilled work force between our employees and sub-contractors, there is a good team here.”
Patrick does feel that there is a shortage of skilled workers in the construction industry, a feeling that is shared by all building companies at the moment, and he feels that there is one area that should get more recognition than it does.
“It is difficult to source skilled workers as there are not as many young people getting involved in the construction industry as in the past. We complete a lot of groundworks on our projects, and I believe that it is a trade in itself. There should be apprenticeships for it; Groundworks is a very skilled trade, but it is not really recognised in the industry, which I think is wrong.”
As stated, the company has a number of projects ongoing at the moment and they have shown steady growth over the past decade, something that the Managing Director would like to see continue.
“We are happy with the growth that we have seen over the past few years and our aim is to continue growing, while maintaining the same level of service that our clients expect from us. We are grateful to receive a lot of repeat clients and we hope that this a good sign for the future.”
Contact Details:
Kercon Construction
Cortown,
Kells,
Co. Meath,
A82 E798
Tel: +353 (0) 46 92 52344
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.kercon.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, May, Vol 7 No 5
