(Based just outside of Easkey, Co Sligo, Rathlee Construction Ltd specialises in carpentry joinery, airtightness and low energy construction in new builds and renovations for its clients. Building Ireland caught up with company founder Brendan McGrath to learn more about what is a young and thriving business in Yeats County.
When Brendan McGrath set-up his construction venture four years ago, he would have hardly envisioned a global pandemic shutting down construction projects all over Ireland months at a time.
Today, the general feeling is that a corner has been turned for the construction industry and Brendan himself is glad to report that “things seem to be getting busy again” for Rathlee Construction Ltd.
The Co Sligo-based company enjoyed a quick rise after setting up in 2017, building one off houses across the county and things seem to be getting back to normal for the business with summer around the corner.
Building Ireland touched base with Brendan McGrath to find out all about his young company – from its origins to the state of business today.
“We’re established since 2017 and previous to that I would have started McGrath Carpentry in 2007,” he outlined.
“We’ve three direct employees here and my father Joe is also involved in the business. We’d be into building one-off houses and altogether we’d be building two or three of them a year.
“We’d also do the odd renovation and extension job, upgrading houses to energy standards.”
He added: “We provide services in high class joinery as well because that would be our base to go back to and also do roofing and airtightness. We’d be very thorough on the airtightness as well.”
Rathlee Construction’s range of services on offer perhaps goes some way towards explaining its rapid rise in the space of just four short years.
The company has been busy with projects since ‘Day One’ and is content with its size, which sees it taking on between two to three private houses a year.
Attention to detail has always been paramount to Brendan and the evidence is there in all of the projects he and his team have completed to date.
Rewind back some two decades ago and he probably wouldn’t have seen himself running a construction business which specialises in building one-off houses.
“With my dad being in the carpentry industry, I spent a couple of summers with him and I suppose that’s how I got into it,” Brendan reflected.
“He had been working with a construction company in north Mayo so I ended up doing my apprenticeship with him. In 2007, I decided to go out on my own and even though the recession hit then, we were still always working.
“When things were getting tight though, we had to branch out and got more and more into building. We did everything from farm buildings to private houses at the start.
“So, before I set-up Rathlee Construction in 2017, we would have had experience from previous years in doing all different types of construction.”
Experience or none, these past 12 months or so have been hugely challenging for every construction business across the country.
The Covid-19 pandemic, and the government restrictions which have followed to try and combat the spread of the virus, have affected companies throughout Ireland and continue to do so.
At the beginning of 2021, all works deemed non-essential were grounded to a halt for construction companies and it saw Rathlee Construction having to hold off on two of its on-going projects.
“We have a lot in the pipeline right now,” Brendan enthused. “We’ve three main projects here at the minute and I’ve priced around 10 to 12 jobs during the latest lockdown, so things are looking good for when we open back up.”
Last summer, Brendan and his team completed a house project in Easkey which is still receiving rave reviews to this day.
The project has also led to more work from other clients, as the Rathlee Construction’s owner and founder revealed.
“We completed a house last August in Easkey which is along the Wild Atlantic Way and ever since the phone has been ringing,” said Brendan.
“It’s a beautiful house and a great advertisement for us there along the main road, so it was a fantastic project for us to get and, I’m glad to say, the owners were very happy with the finished product.”
So, what has been the secret to success so far for Rathlee Construction? How has a small start up from just four years ago grown into a company which now holds an excellent reputation around Sligo and, most importantly, amongst its clients?
According to Brendan, treating each and every project with the same care and attention to detail goes a long way in this line of work.
“I suppose we would pride ourselves here on our finishes and our overall work,” he said.
“I would have built my own house and my brothers houses and I suppose you’d treat any house as if you’re going to live in it yourself.”
Looking towards what he hopes will be another busy summer for the company, Brendan only sees one particular negative going forward in the next few months.
“There’s a lot of stuff coming in for pricing and things seem to be getting busy again,” he said.
“I suppose a lot of people that weren’t badly affected (by the pandemic) work-wise have a few pounds to spend. The only real negative with the construction now is the material prices because it seems to be increasing nearly every month.
“It’s probably going to prolong project labour too – that’ll be the next thing.”
On the possibility of expansion for Rathlee Construction, the Managing Director concluded: “You’re always looking at ways you can improve the business and we’ve always been hands on here.
“If we were to go bigger it could cause problems in that approach so we’re happy with our size here for now.
“I’d rather be on the tools than talking on the phone but you have to get the work in, that’s the way that it is.”
Rathlee Construction Ltd
Rathlee,
Easkey,
Co Sligo
Mobile: 087 634 7806
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, August, Vol 7 No 8
