Trusted across the industry for coming up on three decades, Peter Lyons Plant Hire Ltd are experts in site development, groundworks and civil engineering. A combination of excellent machinery and exceptional people has enabled the Slane-headquartered company to emerge as a renowned one-stop shop for all site development work.
Contemplating what has made Peter Lyons Plant Hire Ltd such a success story over the past 29 years and counting, the eponymous founder and proprietor of this industry-leading earth moving and groundworks contracting company shows no hesitation in acknowledging his team:
“The people around me are absolutely instrumental in whatever success we have had. I get the jobs and organise them but at the end of the day they are the ones who are going out and doing the work, getting it done to the highest standards, not always in the easiest conditions, and you simply couldn’t do this without them.”
As time continues to fly by, Peter Lyons Plant Hire Ltd will celebrate its landmark 30th anniversary in just one year, having been set up in 1997. The business has come a long way and it hasn’t always been plain sailing. To build up a viable company in groundworks demands no end of blood, sweat and tears.
“Like any business it’s been a bit of a journey,” says Peter. “Growth is a very slow process and you need your good people around you to achieve this. You are nothing without them. Once you have assembled a good team of people, you hold onto them and things start to grow. You get good clients and they tend to stay with you as long as you’re providing the service levels they expect.
“No matter what, you have to keep going, see through the difficult days and believe that there are better days ahead. Those few years after ’08 were very tough, but I was always pretty cautious with plant and staff numbers, so we weren’t overly exposed or overstretched. That helped us get through those dark days.”
Today, Peter Lyons Plant Hire Ltd generates direct employment for a core team of 25 and they are incredibly busy. The company’s name has become a byword for excellence in earth moving and site development.
“We have been very fortunate in the quality of the clients we have been working with
and the good relationships we have developed with them.
“The business has grown and evolved, and it’s all site development and infrastructural work we’re doing now on large sites of a couple of hundred houses or more, where you could be onsite for two years or longer.”
Lagan Homes is one of the developers / building contractors with whom Peter has fostered lasting working relationships over the years. “ I built a good relationship with them that’s very important. I’m also lucky to have built up strong relationships with many other builders who might build developments of 50 or so houses at a time and they are all very straight, very honest, and a pleasure to deal with.”
The general catchment area covered incorporates Louth, Meath and into North Dublin as far as Malahide. The extensive, fresh and immaculately maintained fleet of heavy machinery includes 19 excavators, 17 dump trucks and an array of vans, trucks, tools, etc., etc. Investment in the fleet is constant.
“The nature of the beast is that when you start a job you need big machinery and then when the houses go up and you are finishing, you need the smaller stuff. So you have to have a mix of machinery and cover everything. You aren’t going to get a 30t digger into a back garden and you are wasting your time stripping a site with a 3t digger.
“I pride myself on having every piece of equipment you need to do site development from start to finish – right down to our own drag boxes, trench boxes and manhole boxes for drainage. We also do our own engineering; give us the drawings and we’ll take care of the rest.
“I like to think I have a good relationship with all my clients and that’s very important in our job. I know and like and get on well with every one of them and my motto would be ‘do it once and do it right’.”
While Peter no doubt leads by example and sets the tone, he insists that his staff are the real leaders: “The people around me are what this business is all about,” he reiterates. “I treat them as I’d like to be treated myself. Many of them have been working with me for a long time – some of them for up to 20 years. Three of the men who work here, their sons came in and did a bit over the summer, and I can remember when those young fellows were born.
“I have a lot of time for all the men who work here because it can be a tough job. That’s why you get them the best gear, keep them warm, mind them and look after them. If there are any tools you can get that make their jobs easier, then it’s a no-brainer, you have to invest in those tools.”
Peter makes himself available to customers and staff members at all times and is very much the living embodiment of a traditional hands-on owner: “I’m always on duty and always there – you get up every day and make yourself available. Builders know they can reach me any time. I’m there and will sort them out.
“If I say I’m going to do something, I’ll follow through and stick to our agreement. There’s a sense of loyalty there and it works both ways,” the man behind Peter Lyons Plant Hire Ltd concludes. “Reliability is another critical factor. “There’s never any drama with us – we get through the work.”
Peter Lyons Plant Hire,
Slane,
County Meath.
Tel: 046 90 171 89
Email: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, April 2026, Vol 12 No 4
featured, Peter Lyons Plant Hire
