Specialising in tarmacadam, asphalt tar and chip (surface dressing) and line marking, Caharclough Tarmacadam Ltd. delivers unrivalled surface dressing solutions to local authorities, contractors, businesses, schools, hospitals and property owners across the South East. We travelled to Clonmel in County Tipperary and met director Vera Madigan to find out more about this exceptional family-run operation.
Since its inception well over a decade ago, Caharclough Tarmacadam has developed a superb reputation for surfacing roads, driveways, carparks, parks, forecourts, etc., offering exceptional one-stop solutions to a host of customers in the private and public sectors.
A complete package is provided from initial consultation (which is provided free of charge) through to design, groundworks and professional installation of a wide range of surfaces, from public roads and private laneways to farm tracks, footpaths, garage forecourts, stud farms, kerbing and paving, tennis courts, GAA grounds, cycle lanes and retail, commercial and residential paths, covering business parks, housing estates, sportsgrounds, public roads and private properties.
Operating their own fleet of specialist machinery, Caharclough Tarmacadam possess a wealth of experience of all kinds of surface dressing projects as well as a proven track record working for Council Councils and prestigious clients like Dunnes Stores, Bulmers, South Tipp General Hospital and most of the large local stud farms. Every project, whether large or small, is treated with the utmost professionalism, with keen attention to detail and high-quality workmanship a given. Private, residential jobs account for up to 40% of overall work.
Caharclough Tarmacadam work quickly and efficiently and liaise closely with clients, ensuring minimal disruption to homes or businesses while a project is in progress. A tailor-made solution is provided on each job and Caharclough Tarmacadam are known far and wide for their excellence in tar & chip, which is a cost-effective, low-maintenance solution that can be supplied in a range of colours to customer’s specifications.
John and Vera Madigan started out in the mid-noughties with just one van and today operate a large fleet of specialist vehicles including two combi units, a paver, a mixed fleet of six trucks and a number of vans and forklifts, etc
Caharclough Environmental Services is their new baby, something they have been working on for a while and have just brought on line their new services, providing CCTV pipe inspection / surveys., drain cleaning, blockage removal, sludge removal and tar cleaning. This can be carried out in residential home or restaurants, factories, or any other location.
Gainful employment is generated directly for a crew of ten and Vera reveals that Caharclough Tarmacadam enjoyed a very busy 2017.
“We cover all of Munster, although most of our work is in the South East. We were down as far as Ring and Dungarvan during the summer,” she notes, regarding the catchment area covered. “Line marking is a relatively new thing we started about three years ago and it’s proving to be very popular. We’ve very busy providing that service, which can come as part of a complete package including surface dressing – which is what most clients go for – or if required on an existing surface.”
Caharclough Tarmacadam have a highly skilled and professional surface dressing team who are on hand through all stages of each project. The highly motivated and conscientious staff contribute greatly to the success of the business.
The key to the company’s popularity is not rocket science… “We provide good work that people are really happy with,” says Vera. “Word of mouth is a big thing in this line of work and we get a lot of positive referrals as well as a steady flow of repeat business.
“John is also a total perfectionist and this is reflected in the workmanship we provide. Every job is finished to the highest possible standards and that has helped us earn such a good reputation. We’re renowned locally for the work we do on stud farms, for example, and we give the same attention to detail on every job.
“We take our time and provide the proper depth of tar to make sure that the job is perfect in terms of both performance and looks. It all comes down to quality and giving value for money, at the end of the day. Those two go hand in hand because a quality job will always save customers money in the long run.”
As a veritable one-stop shop, all works are provided in-house: “We handle all the groundworks, drainage, etc. – everything from start to finish,” Vera confirms. “We can stand over everything we do and we know that our work won’t be compromised by third parties”
As a family business, with the directors on hand at all times to deal with clients, Caharclough Tarmacadam provide a personal touch. Vera handles the paperwork and quotes, while John oversees preparations and applications on site. “We constantly communicate with our customers and with one another to make sure that everybody is being looked after.”
Quality raw materials are sourced from a variety of local plants. “It depends where we are working at any given time – we collect the tar from the closest reputable plant to where we are working and we use all of the local plants,” Vera confirms.
The perpetually increasing price of diesel never helps, especially if it hits you on the double! “It always seems to be going up and that obviously makes the fleet more expensive to operate but bitumen is also made from diesel so it affects the cost of our raw materials, too,” Vera notes.
However, Caharclough Tarmacadam remains in a strong position going forward and we are confident that further growth could be on the cards: “We had a very good year and we’re hoping to expand with the addition of one more truck, another combi unit and a new paviour,” she concludes. “We’re going to be refreshing the fleet early this year and the new paver will be the biggest expense. We hope our new environmental services will get our company out there as well, we aim to service residential homes as well as being able to work in the corporate sector with our larger trucks. We are constantly investing in new services and new fleet, it’ll be a worthwhile investment and it could double our capacity, so we should hopefully be able to take on more employees as well.”
Caharclough Tarmacadam,
Fethard Road,
Clonmel,
County Tipperary.
Tel: 052 6184455
Mobile: 087 8339423
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.caharcloughtarmac.com
Taken from Building Ireland Magazine, April/May 2018, Vol 4 No 4
