Stewarts’ Brian Gorman was announced as the ‘Project Manager of the Year’ at the 2015 Irish Construction Industry Awards. Building Ireland spoke with the man himself to find out what the successful Galway and Dublin based company has been up to of late.
Founded in 1902 and now one of the top 15 main contractors it is safe to say that Stewart Contractors is a well-established outfit in the Irish construction industry.
A multi award winning company and ‘Contractor of the Year’ for two years running Stewart is recognised for quality and an innovative approach and has an enviable track record in exceeding client expectations.
With headquarters in Lower Salthill, Galway and an office in Merrion Square, Dublin, their projects range in value up to €60m and are undertaken nationwide in the Commercial, Industrial, Retail Leisure & Hospitality, Health and Education sectors.
Projects range from New Build, Refurbishment & Retro-Fitting to Specialist Fit Out, Heritage and Distressed Asset Management with project delivery under Traditional, Design & Build and Design, Build & Finance Routes and indeed alternative client and developer led finance and delivery options.
Brian has been part of the team at Stewart for 16 years now and has been a fundamental asset to the company’s success over that time, acknowledged by his joining the board of directors in 2011.
Brian told us about his role with the company and the different projects he has delivered, some of which have earned him recognition nationwide.
“The company is still run by the Stewart family and between our offices in Galway and Dublin we now have over 100 direct employees increasing to 500 when taking account of additional supply chain members,” Brian explained.
“I hold the position of Contracts Director within the Company, which entails overseeing projects with our Contract Managers reporting daily regarding progress. I also manage specific long term customer accounts such as ALDI, all of which keeps me on my toes!”
So what exactly does Stewart do? Brian explained:
“We are involved in most sectors with a concentration on commercial and industrial work and particular expertise in the provision of design and build solutions.
“We have contracts on-going nationwide across various sectors including the delivery of two high specification office developments for IPUT, one a Georgian office refurbishment and fit out in Stephens Green and the other a 5000sq.m. new build in Citywest. West coast office projects include a new build and tenant led fit out of a 3500m2 office development in the IDA / Stewart developed Business and Technology Park. This will bring the space Stewart has delivered in the park to 11500sq.m of CAT A and CAT B type office space.”
Education projects include 24-class room Design and Build Schools in Midleton and Claregalway and we are completing large extensions to a fish factory in Killybegs and Bradys Ham in Co. Kildare.
This year also saw us complete the new state of the art offices for Roscommon County Council and the €40m GRIFOLS Pharmaceutical Logistics Centre in Dublin.
“We have delivered over half of ALDI’s Irish stock bringing the number of projects Stewart have been involved with to 64. We have 3 jobs on-going with them at the moment and are proud of repeat business customers such as ALDI, IDA, SAP, Fidelity, OPW, An Post and DoES and more recently IPUT and Beacon Hospital,” Brian stated.
The Roscommon County Council Project was just one of dozens of successful projects of which Brian has been an integral link. He is well accomplished in his field and has been a fundamental asset to the company’s success.
“It was a great honour,” Brian stated on winning the award. “I was very privileged to have won it and it’s nice to be recognised.”
He has won similar awards in the past being announced as CIOB Construction Manager of the Year in both 2011 and 2013.
“Those awards were for the work we did at St. Marys CBS Tralee and two years prior to that I was shortlisted and came third for a project we completed for Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology,” explained the Project Manager.
Brian has worked on numerous complex projects such as the recent Fast Track Fit Out/Refurbishment of Knock Basilica completed in time for Easter Ceremonies and the first transatlantic pilgrimage flight into Ireland, large D&B IDA Office Campus in Galway, 64 ALDI Stores Nationwide, as well as Ireland’s largest Gaelcholaiste ‘Coláiste na Coiribe’ and has maintained Stewart’s reputation for delivering projects of the highest standards.
The company itself expressed its delight on the night, illustrating how well-deserved Brian is to be acknowledged for the tremendous work he does.
Speaking of his success on the night, Brian said: “High quality project delivery requires true collaboration. This award is not down to one but down to a team effort.”
Looking towards the coming 12 months, Brian stated that he is relishing the busy times ahead as the company continues to experience an upturn in the market from five years ago.
“Our reputation for quality construction combined with financial robustness and increased capacity is resulting in our being in a healthy position to avail of opportunities in the market,” remarked Brian.
“We have additional industrial, commercial and educational projects in the pipeline for 2016 and we continue to win repeat business from valued long term clients. The increased activity by multi-nationals in the technology, financial and pharmaceutical / medical devices arena is extremely encouraging as is the commercial office sector particularly in Dublin city centre.
“We are starting to see the noticeable increase in?construction activity in the private sector, concentrated particularly on the East coast. We look to be very busy for the coming period, which isn’t a bad complaint to have at all,” he concluded.
Stewart
43 Lower Salthill,
Galway
p: +353 (0) 91 524455
f: +353 (0) 91 524943
17 Merrion Square,
Dublin 2.
p: +353 (0) 1 9011290
e-mail: [email protected]
web: www.stewart.ie
Taken from Building Ireland magazine, Spring 2016, Vol 2, No 1
