Shortlisted as Fit Out Sub-Contractor of the Year at the 2019 Fit Out Awards, JJC Contracting is one of Ireland’s premier commercial and residential building and fit out specialists. Building Ireland spoke to managing director Jim Creighton to find out more about this multi-skilled operation and the wide range of high-quality construction services provided.
Equally comfortable acting as contractor or subcontractor, JJC Contracting specialises in all aspects of construction, from new builds / design & build, extensions and fit outs to partitions & ceilings, plastering and general building works. The company is fronted by Kildare man Jim Creighton, whose family are highly regarded for consistently delivering professional, high-quality building solutions.
Following in the considerable footsteps of his father, Jimmy, who earned a stellar reputation as a local housing and commercial developer, Jim worked for a decade as a carpenter / joiner and also secured an Honours Degree in Construction Project Management before establishing JJC Contracting as a limited company in 2015.
A flexible, versatile and multifaceted operation that pays attention to the finest details, JJC Contracting has hit the ground running, making a massive impact across the Greater Dublin / Kildare region during the intervening years, currently generating direct, permanent employment for eleven people whilst consistently utilising the skills of up to 40 men, depending on the workload at any given time.
As a Tier One Subcontractor, JJC have delivered a large volume of fast-paced fit outs for leading main contractors over the past three years and counting.
Striving for excellence in craftsmanship, JJC’s young dynamic workforce are ideally suited to new age building techniques and always go above and beyond the call of duty to maintain deadlines without letting quality slip. Despite being a relatively new company, they have already made a great name for themselves with renowned clients and main contractors across Ireland and in Northern Ireland, including Walls, Mac Interiors, Purcell, MJ Flood and Bam to namecheck just a handful.
A diverse company that happily takes on a variety of different contracts and never shies away from challenges, JJC Contracting has developed particular expertise in delivering intense, high-pressure fit out solutions on major commercial and residential developments, forging strong, mutually-beneficial working relationships with main contractors like the aforementioned Walls Construction and Mac Interiors. Indeed, at the time of writing, they had up to eight months of work ahead of them for Walls.
“I’m a carpenter by trade and had worked for myself for 13 or 14 years before deciding to emulate my father by setting up a building company – that’s what I always wanted to do,” Jim notes. “It’s going quite well, thankfully and we’ve enjoyed tremendous growth. It started with literally just myself and my wife looking after administration and we have grown considerably, to the stage where we would have upwards of 40 men on site at our busiest.”
As subcontractor for Walls Construction, JJC Contracting delivered fit out solutions on the reinstatement and upgrading of The Metro Hotel & Apartment Building in Ballymun, which has been restored after suffering massive fire and water damage in 2018. At the height of this project, JJC had almost 70 men on site! They also did a shell & core fit out on blocks 3 and 4 of the high-profile new build project at Dublin Landings.
They’ve also recently commenced a shell & core and Cat A fit out on the Termini building on Sandyford’s Arkle Road, again for Walls. It was for another Sandyford project – the Atrium Building – delivered for Mac Interiors that they were shortlisted in the Fit Out Sub-Contractor of the Year category at this year’s Fit Out Awards.
“On all of these projects, there is a lot of management from the main contractor, but we also offer a significant amount of management and leadership from our side as well, which has led to some enduring relationships and high levels of trust,” Jim continues.
“We don’t limit ourselves to one type of work,” reveals the founder / MD, who is a fully-qualified, vastly-experienced carpenter and builder. “We can do one-off bespoke houses from start to finish, extensions, partitions, attic conversions, refurbs, anything that’s related to building or carpentry. Since we branched into commercial fit outs, that aspect of our work has really taken off and we’re extremely busy with it at present, with a large order book in front of us.
“We still do residential work, but commercial definitely accounts for most of our work at the moment.”
All JJC employees are trade qualified and work towards establishing the company’s name and reputation across every project undertaken. Attention to the smallest detail and the highest levels of competency, conscientiousness and professionalism ensure that every project is delivered expertly, to programme, on time and within budget.
Jim agrees that his skilled staff represent JJC Contracting’s greatest asset: “We have a highly-skilled management team and excellent men on the ground. Dan King is our QS and estimator and he is exceptional, while Steve Redmond, who’s also highly qualified, works as Project Manager / Contracts Manager. Meanwhile, Joe Ryan is an ex-FAS employee who came on board to run our Health & Safety division and to oversee contract management.
“It’s absolutely vital that we have these skills in-house. I wouldn’t be here without these people. I’m a hands-on worker and I like to be on site on a day-to-day basis, maintaining relations with our builders and men. These guys do a fantastic job at management level, which enables me to focus on doing what I’m good at.”
As a result of the excellent workmanship delivered on each and every project, JJC Contracting is in a strong position going forward: “The commercial fit outs have gone through the roof,” Jim confirms. “In November, 2017, we started working on AIB Central Park – that was the first €1m job we did for Walls and we’ve been in big demand with them and their competitors ever since. We also do a lot of ceiling & partition packages and actually did the ceilings and partitions for Structuretone at the Institute of Dermatology in Ballsbridge, which the architect Henry J Lyons had nominated for Healthcare Project of the Year at the Fit Out Awards. A lot of detail went into that one, with curved ceilings, etc. We also continue to do a large amount of high-end joinery work.”
Regarding plans for the future, Jim reveals: “The business keeps growing and it’s very encouraging that turnover has increased steadily year on year. My long-term aim would be to become a main contractor down the line, but also to maintain a steady subcontractor business because we are quite good at that.
“I like to keep it local as well. A lot of the guys who work for me are from the general Celbridge, Leixlip, Maynooth area. They all want to stay working and they are ultra-professional when wearing the JJC badge.
“That helps us get repeat business and we have managed to do that with Walls, who have tied us down with two huge projects – the commercial fit out in Sandyford and a 240-unit apartment block in Harold’s Cross. We have an excellent working relationship with their Fit Out Director James O’Toole … building good relationships and trust is vitally important.”
JJC Contracting Ltd.,
Unit D14,
N4 Interchange Park,
Maynooth Road,
Celbridge,
County Kildare.
Tel: 01 6279744
Email: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, April 2020, Vol 6 No 2
