Ireland’s leading Office Products Business Huntoffice.ie has successfully diversified into the Office Interiors and fit-out sector. Seamus Hunt, who founded the company along with his brother John, details how they have made major inroads in this ultra-competitive sector in a relatively short space of time and their ambitious plans for future expansion.
The dominant player in Ireland’s online office products market, Huntoffice.ie has invested over €500,000 in its specialist office interiors design and fit-out business and has more than doubled its workforce over the past three years.
Huntoffice.ie has increased its revenue by 400 per cent over the same period and has built up a highly experienced team of consultants, designers and project managers which has successfully delivered projects for many of Ireland’s prominent multinationals and indigenous companies, among these Amazon.com, Sysco Foods, Uniphar, Teamwork, Voxpro, Abbott, Mylan and Nissan to name a few.
Established in 1999 by the Limerick brothers, wholly Irish-owned Huntoffice.ie has gone on to become Ireland’s largest online platform for office products. Today, the business employs 61 people at its locations in Newcastlewest, Co. Limerick and Citywest Business Campus in Dublin.
“We are 22 years in business this year and it has been an incredible journey seeing the company evolve to what it is today,” co-founder Seamus explained.
“We’re a family run business with family values. We really pride ourselves on our attention to detail and quality finishes. We only source top quality materials from recognised brands in the office furniture industry throughout Europe.”
Under Seamus and John’s supervision, the business continues to grow and expects to achieve double-digit revenue growth over the next three years. The ambitious team has just completed a significant investment in new showrooms in Limerick and recently relocated its Dublin office to a state-of-the art showroom facility in Citywest.
“With an overall investment in excess of €500,000, we are now in a position to show our clients what we are capable of offering in one location. This is something of a rarity in the office fit-out market in Ireland,” Seamus added.
“Our aim is to show our ambition and vision. We want to encourage people to come through the doors of our showrooms to talk to us about the design of their offices.
“We specialise in office design and space planning and we provide a branding consultancy as well. We are proud to offer our customers a turnkey solution when it comes to office interiors and fit-out solutions, we love speaking to clients about their ideas and expanding on those then to create an office space that reflects their values and vision for their business.
“We also do a lot of custom-made joinery which can really make an office stand out, examples of which are visible in both of the showrooms. We are a nationwide company, with bases in Cork city and Waterford. We’re also opening a new showroom in Kilkenny in the not-too-distant future.”
Although 22 years in business, the company still has the feeling and energy of a start-up, according to Martin Johnston who heads up the Interiors business from its Citywest base.
“We have a great ethos and hunger here which has been instilled from day one by John and Seamus. I’m more than 23 years in this industry but each day I come in honestly feels like we’re just getting started. I’m very lucky to love what I do for a living.
“The serious investment and high quality of finish that we’ve put into the new showroom facilities shows our ambition and vision. We really wanted to build something special here that fits in with what our clients are asking for in today’s ever-changing workplace. I really think we’ve done it.”
The business provides a comprehensive range of solutions from state-of-the art meeting Pods, to seating and desking systems, flooring, lighting and canteen facilities. The design team also works closely with clients to optimise floor planning and offer solutions for glass partitioning and quality bespoke joinery.
“We work with all of the leading manufacturers and continue to source the latest designs and innovations on behalf of our clients” explained Johnston.
The company has an exclusive partnership with French company Hoyez, a manufacturer of a modern and flexible glazed partition system which has been successfully deployed by Huntoffice contractors across Ireland.
Whilst the Covid Pandemic has created much uncertainty and disruption, the Huntoffice Interiors team has been working with clients to help them to adapt their workspaces and facilitate the shift to working from home. Even with the current Covid-19 economic effects, Johnston strikes an optimistic view for the future.
“There’s no doubting the pandemic will have some sort of effect and change in the workplace. We’re already seeing it now with the re-organising of offices with an emphasis on social distancing as well as the option for remote working, but we’re confident that a lot of these changes are short to medium term.
“What we need now is fit-for-purpose, well thought out workspaces that empower employees yet remain welcoming to visitors. That’s what we are here to provide. It’s been a tough 18 months or so for a lot of businesses & staff, but I believe we’ll all come out the other side stronger and more efficient. We’ve also just added a new facilities management team that will fit in with our interiors client base very nicely, so I’m very confident about the future.”
“We have a large customer base which has a big spread of SME’s and large Multinationals.
Thankfully, they’re keeping us busy with medium and large fit-out projects. For example, we have a total of 18 projects on the go at this present time,” revealed Seamus Hunt.
Although coming from the online sector where the company is the undisputed market leader, the business has evolved a hybrid sales model which ensures high-touch, solutions-based enquiries are channelled into the appropriate team via the main eCommerce platform.
Huntoffice is a fine example of the digital commerce enterprise of the future. The business is
100% Irish owned and is trusted by over 45,000 B2B customers in Ireland.
Prospective new clients (and existing ones of course!) are guaranteed a warm welcome and insightful visit when they enter the doors of their state-of-the-art showrooms in Limerick and Dublin.
“We are meeting clients by appointment because of Covid-19,” Seamus explained. “We would have a couple of appointments scheduled every day and when people come in there, they really engage with us and, more often than not, they end up working with us.”
HuntOffice.ie
Unit 5 Desmond Business Park
Station Road
Newcastle West
Co. Limerick
Tel: 01 6230623
Eircode: V42 A394
Dublin Office:
Hunt Office Interiors
Unit 13 Orchard Business Centre
Orchard Avenue
Citywest
Dublin
Tel: 01 6230623
Eircode: D24 X0EH
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, December 2021, Vol 7 No 12
