With extensive experience in pre-fabricating and installing pipework and structural steel, Hayes Mechanical & Engineering delivers industry-leading mechanical services nationwide. Building Ireland popped into their modern HQ in Ballintubber, County Mayo to find out more from hands-on director Seanie Hayes, who runs the business alongside his wife Alana.
Hayes Mechanical & Engineering is not your run-of-the-mill service provider; they specialise in delivering top-tier mechanical services, including bespoke fabrication the precision installation of pipework and structural steel. Their core services encompass pipework design and fabrication in stainless, carbon steel, structural steel and high purity stainless steel pipework for sectors such as pharmaceutical, manufacturing, healthcare, water treatment, and wastewater treatment and onsite mechanical installations as well as comprehensive mechanical installations.
What sets Hayes Mechanical & Engineering apart is their ability to leverage multidisciplinary expertise and a high skill level in their impressive workshops, equipped with the latest cutting-edge technology. The team are driven by an unwavering commitment to delivering unbeatable workmanship and providing exceptional customer service. Consistently operating to the highest levels of integrity and consistency, they invariably meet the diverse demands of each client and to achieve remarkable results every time.
Emphasising a commitment to quality, safety and customer satisfaction throughout all its operations, Hayes Mechanical & Engineering is an award-winning, fully-certified provider of the highest quality pipework and structural steel. Holding a BS EN 1090-2 accreditation for CE marking of structural steel work and associated components, their welding adheres to the rigorous ASME IX standards. Furthermore, their commitment to quality is underscored by the ISO 9001 and ISO 45001 accreditations, solidifying their standing as a paragon of reliability in the industry.
Furthermore, Hayes Mechanical & Engineering boast a dedicated BIM department for design. Their talented team of BIM professionals employs cutting-edge technology and software tools to create accurate 3D models and simulations, enabling them to optimise project planning, improve coordination, minimise errors and enhance overall efficiency throughout the design phase.
Renowned nationwide as a specialist in bespoke pipework and structural steel, Hayes Mechanical & Engineering were recognised by their peers in the industry when picking up the Growth & Excellence Award at the 2023 Irish Steel Awards Night in Portlaoise’s Midlands Park Hotel on Saturday, October 7th 2023. The success enjoyed to date by Hayes Mechanical & Engineering is all the more remarkable when one considers that this rapidly-expanding pipework and structural steel specialists were only formed as recently as 2016, with founders Seanie and Alana – who is originally from New Zealand – having returned to Ireland the previous year. Seanie and Alana’s journey, from a small team to a fully-equipped facility with workshops, offices, and painting facilities, exemplifies their commitment to quality work.
Seanie worked extensively on pipework for oil and gas processing facilities Down Under and managed prefabrication on site. “I ended up managing a high-end workshop out there for a mate and Alana looked after all the paperwork and traceability,” he recalls.
The couple called into Ireland en route to Canada to spend some time helping out Seanie’s father, post-surgery, and all plans went out the window as they ended up staying. Incredibly, Hayes Mechanical & Engineering has evolved naturally and organically – exclusively out of strong demand for the skilled, specialist services Seanie, Alana and their team can deliver: “While we were home temporarily, as we thought at the time, I took on a job. Another opportunity came up and rest is history. One job led to another and there was big demand for good quality work. We decided to stay here and set the company up and it has really taken off, thankfully.”
From humble beginnings, Hayes Mechanical & Engineering has grown to the point where 42 people are employed heading into 2024, with further growth projected. “We started out in 2016 with just the two of us and a few lads,” Seanie continues.
“Things were going well, so we decided to build a workshop. In 2019, we built a 7,000 sq ft workshop and then added a 4,500 sq ft structural steel workshop. We added a 170 sq m, two-storey office just after Covid so our facilities now include the office building, two workshops and also a painting facility.”
It says a lot for the quality of the products and services provided by HM&E that the business has come so far so soon solely on the back of strong demand. “A lot of hard work has gone into it” notes Seanie. “It just evolved gradually over time and we now have eleven in the office plus 31 people out on the ground or in the workshop.
Working nationwide from Dublin to Cork, Limerick and Galway, Hayes Mechanical & Engineering cover a wide range of sectors and building types from pharmaceutical plants and data centres to water treatment and wastewater facilities, education, industrial and commercial. For Spencer Place in the capital, for example, they were awarded the prefabrication and installation of more than 1,500 linear metres of carbon steel pipework required for the chilled water, LTHW and cooling services in the plant room and roof risers. This project also included fabrication and installation of the dry risers.
Some other projects delivered include the fabrication and installation of LTHW and natural gas pipework in the central quad at DIT Grangegorman; mechanical installation of drum screens, actuated penstocks, manual and automatic inlet screens, guiderails, pump sets, grit classifier, booster set, weir plates in aeration tank and splitter chamber, flow meters, ductile iron pipework, chemical dosing tanks, clarifier scraper system, handrailing, access platforms, stairs and other site specific miscellaneous works at Ballymotte & Collooney Waste & Water Treatment; and ongoing upgrade projects including new stainless steel pipework and structural stainless steel fabrications and installation as well as maintenance works at Abbvie in Westport.
Hayes Mechanical & Engineering are also spreading their wings into mainland Europe, having delivered structural steel and pipework on a water treatment facility and data centre in Milan and with work currently being priced in Sweden and Belgium. Their expansion into mainland Europe signifies their growing presence and global ambitions.
Seanie says building and maintaining strong relationships with clients, including major mechanical service contractors like Jones Engineering, Mercury Engineering and Lynskey Engineering, has been key to the success of Hayes to date.
You have to have good relationships with clients and keep those lines of communication open at all times, as well as ensuring that you consistently work to the very highest standards. We also have an excellent team – in the office, the workshop and on-site.”
While Hayes Mechanical & Engineering has come a long way in a relatively short space of time, this is very much only the beginning of the journey and further growth is very much on the cards: “In for a penny, in for a pound,” Seanie concludes. “We are still growing and have a lot of work in front of us for the next twelve months. I can see our turnover more than doubling in the next two-three years.
“When you are working extensively on pharma plants and data centres, it’s hard to remain small because of the sheer volume of work going on at those sites. You need to grow with them or else you are limiting yourself. You have to take a jump with them or otherwise your not at the races.
“At present, we have one floor of the office building developed. We will develop the top floor during 2024, bring in additional staff and grow the company more. As one of our KPIs, we will also be hitting Europe harder.”
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, April 2024, Vol 10 No 4
Hayes Mechanical & Engineering
