Operating out of Fallask, Clonmany Co Donegal, CMD Electrical (Ireland) Ltd is a general electrical contracting company which specialises in commercial, industrial and domestic projects. Building Ireland caught up with Managing Director Charlie McDaid recently to hear all about the firm – from its origins to the projects it has on-going at the moment.
When Donegal man Charlie McDaid first started out in electrical contracting a quarter of a century ago, he did so with the intention of providing his customers with a quality service above all else.
Fast-forward to today and he now heads up CMD Electrical (Ireland) Ltd as its Managing Director, and it’s a company which is renowned for its excellence by clients.
‘CMD’ became a limited venture in 2018, but Charlie’s roots in the electrical contracting game can be traced all the way back to three decades ago when he first started his apprenticeship after finishing secondary school.
Building Ireland spoke with the County Donegal native to discuss the ins and outs of his business which today operates with 30 direct staff from its base in Fallask, Drumfries, Clonmany, Co Donegal.
“We specialise in commercial, industrial and domestic work and it’d be a big variety from houses to large factories, schools and stuff like that,” he outlined.
“We also have a division of the company which concentrates on the wind energy sector. This end of the business would include both electrical and mechanical installation of new turbines. We also carry out major component changes and servicing on existing wind turbines. We have worked on many projects in the wind energy sector over the years throughout Ireland, UK, mainland Europe and North Africa.
“Earlier this year we completed the installation on the final turbine at the Moanvane wind farm project, in Co Offaly, this project consisted of 12 No Nordex N133 Delta 4000 turbines which have an overall capacity of 58MW.”
Charlie has been running this venture alongside is his lovely wife Marie Therese, a fellow director in the company who has helped grow it as much as anybody to point where it’s at today.
These days business is strong at CMD and the plan for Charlie, Marie Therese and the rest of the team to try and keep things that way for the foreseeable future.
It’s all a far cry from where Charlie himself started out in his chose profession, as the company MD himself explained.
“I served my time as an apprentice straight after I did my Leaving Cert,” he said. “That was back in 1994 and I served my apprenticeship in the north and worked for a company, Eamonn McGauran & Sons in Sligo, and we still subcontract work for them on a regular basis here.”
Repeat business has been a key part of CMD’s growth since the very start, with clients seemingly satisfied with the company’s work from ‘Day One’
Right now, business is in a promising state where they’ve managed to amass a glowing reputation for their work.
“It’s been good,” Charlie stated. “We’re just tipping way and we have a lot of our customers that are repeat customers, so we’ve a portfolio of people that we work for and we don’t really veer much outside of that. Business is good. We’re happy out.
“Since 2018 we have been concentrated heavily on the domestic and commercial work.”
“We’re currently doing an extension at Inishowen Engineering which is a large metal fabrication company here beside us. He built a new factory on a four-acre site and he’s actually added on to it constantly for the last four or five years.
“We’re in the process of completing a veterinary clinic in Carndonagh and we’ve completed a couple of new cafes in Buncrana. We’ve a good few more projects coming up as well, and we also do maintenance work for SuperValu, Londis and Centra stores in the area.”
So, all of that considered, the clear question is what has been the secret behind the success of this company to date?
How has a small start up grown into what is now very much a thriving electrical contracting firm which holds an excellent reputation among its clientele?
Charlie himself sees it coming down to a combination of factors.
“They know that when we take a project for them, with a tight deadline, that they can rely on us to get the job done right, complete and on schedule,” he said.
“Along with that, we always keep the standard to quality for them and I think that’s something that they appreciate.”
Looking at the months ahead for the business, Charlie is perhaps as optimistic as he’s ever been for what’s to come down the road for CMD Electrical (Ireland) Ltd.
“We’re in good hopes and, thankfully, we’re in a good position here at the moment. There are good projects coming up, so we have good hopes and expectations for the future here,” the company’s Managing Director concluded.
CMD Electrical (Ireland) Ltd
Fallask,
Drumfries,
Clonmany,
Co Donegal
Tel: 074 932 0769
Email: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, September 2024, Vol 10 No 9
