Based just outside of Dunshaughlin, Co Meath, Gerry O’Shaughnessy Engg. Ltd are suppliers of cutting & bending equipment for reinforcing steel, sales & service to the construction and precast concrete industry. Building Ireland heard more from company director Peter O’Shaughnessy recently.
2019 marked 35 years in business for Gerry O’Shaughnessy Engg. Ltd and today, more than ever, the Co-Meath based company is thriving.
Covering nationwide, as well as in the UK, the family-run business supplies cutting & bending equipment for reinforcing steel, sales & service.
The company itself was originally set-up by Gerry O’Shaughnessy and his wife Betty back in 1984 and has since been passed on to the next generation, with Gerry himself still very much actively involved in the spare parts end of the business.
His son Peter now heads up the company and was good enough to take the time out from a hectic schedule recently to fill Building Ireland in on what they’re all about.
“We look after both sides of the water but we’re based in Verbena, Hallstown, Dunshaughlin, Co Meath,” he explained.
“Right now there are four staff working here, with my wife Niamh and parents Gerry and Betty also involved in the business.
“We supply the machines for cutting and bending steel for reinforced concrete and provide repairs and servicing for those machines as well as carrying a large stock of spare parts”
Gerry O’Shaughnessy Engg. Ltd is an agent in both Ireland and the UK for E.V.G Machinery for processing wire from coil, R.M.S Rebar Shearline, Schilt; Cutting and bending equipment from bar, Hambi; Mesh cutting and bending equipment and Oscam; Radii and Ring Machines.
The business has grown to the point now where it is one of the country’s leading suppliers of cutting & bending equipment for reinforcing steel, sales & service to the construction and precast concrete industry.
That’s a far cry from the days of the company’s inception back in 1984 – at a time when Gerry O’Shaughnessy took the bold decision to go out on his own after having worked in the industry for over 20 years.
A little less than a decade later, his son would come on board and a decision was made to take the company in a new direction which it still finds itself immersed into to this day.
For Peter, joining his father’s company at the time was an exciting opportunity that he would take with both hands.
“My father had originally started working for a company in Palmerstown and learned the industry well before it went into liquidation,” he said.
“As a result, he decided to start his own business in ’84 and built it up from the ground by himself basically. He was mainly working for Irish Rail and got involved into the quarry end of it as well through stone crushing.
“I joined the business in 1993 and decided to take it in a direction where we would be specialising in rebar machinery. It was definitely tough at the start but, as the months and years went by, it got better and I’d like to think that it was then we started to make a name for ourselves.”
Word of the quality machines on offer at Gerry O’Shaughnessy Engg. wasn’t long spreading and perhaps business over the past half a decade or so demonstrates the track record and glowing reputation the company has earned.
Right now, a looming Brexit is the biggest concern for what is a thriving business, with such a considerable portion of their clientele based across the Channel.
“These days there’s that uncertainly there because of Brexit hanging over all of us,” Peter outlined.
“But I have to say that the last six or seven years here have been very good and hopefully things will continue that way for us.”
Rewinding back a decade or so, Peter remembers a time when the company took the decision to delve into the UK market after the economic downturn had scorched the Irish construction and precast concrete industry.
Difficult times called for big decisions to be made and Peter is proud to say that the company made the correct one back then.
“In 2008, we decided to take on work in the UK to subsidise for the lack of Irish work,” he said.
“The recession in this country was tough and I think we made the right decision getting into the UK market to make up for the lack of Irish work at the time. Hopefully now, Brexit doesn’t upset that.”
Indeed 2020 could see Brexit coming into effect and upsetting things for companies trading back and forth from Ireland to the UK.
Peter, however, is as confident as ever that business will stay good and clients will continue to choose them first ahead of other competitors out there.
“I would hope that it’s because of the quality and speed of our work and, of course, the quality of machinery that we supply them with.”
On the year ahead, he concluded: “Hopefully it will be about more of the same for us and we can continue to keep our clients satisfied and grow our customer base along with that.”
Gerry O’Shaughnessy Engineering Ltd
Verbena,
Hallstown,
Dunshaughlin,
Co Meath
A85 AR28
Tel: 01 825 4004
Mobile: 086 277 1315
Fax: 01 825 4005
E-mail: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, February/March 2020, Vol 6 No 1
Gerry O’Shaughnessy Engineering
