Already firmly established as a commercial roofing, cladding and facades partner of choice, Crown Roofing continues to deliver remarkable results and break new boundaries. Building Ireland touched base with Chief Operating Officer Emma O’Gorman Wall to get an update on this industry-leading, second-generation family business, which is enjoying spectacular growth both at home and abroad.
Under the astute guidance of Owen O’Gorman and Emma O’Gorman Wall – who took over the family business in 2009 – Crown Roofing has gone from strength to strength over the past decade to become Ireland’s premier specialist roofing, cladding and façade contractor.
Delivering best-in-class building envelope solutions, Crown is a well-established company that has earned an unrivalled reputation at the forefront of the construction industry.
Last year marked Crown Roofing’s 25th in business, which makes the second-generation family operation one of the longest-established roofing and cladding contractors in Ireland … as well as one of the best!
Significant expansion into the European market – secured on the back of their exceptional track record in delivering projects to the very highest standards, invariably on time and within budget – is testament to the fact that best-in-industry structures are in place at Crown Roofing.
Turnover has more than trebled inside the last eight years, increasing exponentially from around €6m to €20m, and this has not happened by chance. Owen (MD) and Emma (Chief Operating Officer) have been achieving remarkable results since they assumed control of the business from their late father Oliver a decade ago.
“At the core of our business are our values and our respect for our clients, our staff and all the stakeholders,” Emma notes. “We pride ourselves on carrying out every project to a very high standard and we never leave a bad job behind us. On the back of that, we get a lot of repeat business and that has been one of the drivers of our success.”
Indeed, Crown Roofing have been certified as a Great Place To Work, with direct employment currently generated for as many as 75 highly-skilled personnel – and the same again indirectly! All members of the team work in the best possible environment and are afforded the best training pertaining to industry, with a massive emphasis placed on both Health & Safety and career development at all times.
To this end, Crown’s status as an approved Solas training centre means they can deliver CSES roofing training to both their own personnel and third parties.
With demand for their services stronger than ever, Crown Roofing are experiencing a period of unprecedented, organic growth, staff numbers having risen by 50% over the past three years alone. “We have a larger projects team with six project managers on site and also a dedicated design department, comprising four people,” Emma continues. “We’re fully embracing digital technology, which necessitates specialist skills and personnel.
“While we’re growing, we are making sure we do so in a sustainable way. We’re not just increasing our turnover for the sake of it. We’re growing the business in a steady, controlled, organic and planned manner and we’re making sure that the high standards we’re renowned for are maintained right across the company.
“Our excellent team are at the heart of the company and they are instrumental in the increased activity we’ve recorded both in Ireland and Europe. We are very keen to ensure that Crown Roofing remains a great place to work. We look after our staff by educating and training them. In many cases we send them to college and we work hard on developing them all the time.
“They are afforded opportunities to develop and grow within the business, if they have ambition to do so. Due to our expansion into the European market, there are also opportunities for employees to work abroad, if that is attractive to them. We’re all part of the same team and we all work together. By training and improving our staff, we are also developing the company and making it stronger.”
The roofing and cladding partner of choice to clients across Ireland and Europe in all sectors – including digital technology, commercial, retail, industrial, residential, pharmaceutical and healthcare – Crown Roofing delivers perfect projects every time, on both new build and refurbishment projects.
Founded by Emma and Owen’s late father, Oliver O’Gorman, in 1993, Crown Roofing provide a complete roofing, cladding and facades design, installation and project management service. Disciplines covered incorporate flat roofing, metal roofing, wall cladding, full building envelopes, traditional roofing, zinc and copper, refurbishment, green roof systems and architectural facades & rainscreen systems, the Roundwood, County Wicklow-headquartered company’s industry-leading position underpinned by their dedication to Health & Safety and status as a Safe-T-Cert accredited contractor.
Crown Roofing are wholly committed to delivering all projects to the highest quality standards – safely, on time and within budget. They design, supply and install the latest market-leading roofing, cladding and façade solutions and boast a proven track record of delivering to the highest standards in terms of Health & Safety and quality on some of the largest and most complex projects both in Ireland and Europe.
Due to the high standard of workmanship and attention to detail inherent in every job, 90% of their work is from repeat clients, who choose Crown Roofing because they offer a proactive approach to Health & Safety, quality of delivery on every project, extensive choice of supply chain partners, cost-effective solutions, technical expertise, financial stability, a professional, highly-qualified management team, highly-trained, competent installers, in-house BIM and technical teams, and director-led involvement on every project.
Crown’s design and technical department utilise the latest technology to ensure the smooth integration of roofing, cladding and facade systems into the overall project. Ongoing training and upskilling of employees ensures they are fully compliant with current codes and practises and aware of any imminent industry changes.
Health & Safety has always been of paramount importance to the company and is the premier key performance indicator for all projects.
At the time of writing, Crown Roofing were extremely busy in the capital working on a number of data centre and commercial property projects. They’ve been active on Grangegorman Campus since 2018 and have also recently completed high-quality works at 76 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay and at the ESB headquarters on Fitzwilliam Street.
Crown Roofing have successfully delivered in excess of 250,000m2 of roofing, cladding and façade finishes on mission critical projects within the data centre and pharmaceutical sectors. In 2018, the company expanded into the European market and they continue to work extensively installing roofing and cladding systems on data centres across Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Working for a who’s who of top-tier main contractors including Clancy, Collen, John Paul, PJ Hegarty, Sisk and Stewart (to namecheck just a handful), Crown Roofing’s unrivalled expertise has been applied to buildings for Diageo, eircom, Google, the HSE, IBM, Kerry Foods, PayPal, RTE, Bord Gais, Aldi, Lidl, the Shelbourne Hotel, UCD, Neptune House, The Marker Hotel, The Mater Hospital, St Vincent’s Hospital, 10 Molesworth Street, 6 Hanover Quay, etc.
Following in their father’s footsteps, Emma and Owen, in conjunction with Commercial Director Cormac Sweeney, have nurtured Crown into Ireland’s premier roofing and cladding contractor. Despite the challenges encountered along the way, including the fall-out from the recession, the company has quadrupled in size over the past decade, with a second office opened in Dublin.
While quality workmanship, personnel, products and systems have always been a given, what are the other keys to the company’s success? “I would say the main thing is the excellent reputation we have built up since 1993. We’re are renowned for carrying out quality work and we’re No.1 in our field. We’d rather leave a job than take it on and not do it properly.
“Obviously, the pick-up in the economy has helped,” Emma concludes.
“We’re continuously improving, from training staff to implementing systems and putting supports in place to ensure quality. We have a super team with a low turnover of staff. You can’t do anything without the right people.”
Crown Roofing,
Lough Dan Lodge,
Roundwood,
County Wicklow,
A98 D522.
Tel: 01 2818357
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.crownroofing.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, November 2019, Vol 5 No 10
