On the back of exceptional service levels and the keenest attention to the finest detail on every project delivered, Pat Kelleher Plumbing & Heating has quickly established itself as an industry-leading operation, covering the full range of installation and maintenance solutions across County Cork and sometimes beyond.
It was but six years ago that Pat Kelleher Plumbing & Heating was established as a limited company but the personable founder and proprietor had been working as a sole trader since 2010, accumulating a wealth of invaluable experience working on domestic, commercial and industrial projects.
Today, Pat Kelleher Plumbing & Heating is regarded as one of Cork’s premier domestic and commercial plumbing specialists, with an immaculate track record of completed projects and an ever-expanding portfolio of works that keeps the Cork man and his trusty team busy all week long, making sure the mechanical needs of households and businesses alike are served in a prompt and proficient manner.
Building Ireland interrupted Pat’s busy schedule to get an insight into the success to date of this superb family-run business: “Generally, we do a mixture of domestic and commercial installations and some maintenance-based work, too. Cork is our main catchment area but we also cover Limerick and Kerry as well.”
Pat has focused on heating and plumbing all his working life. He served his time with Tony O’Sullivan in Donoughmore and then spent a year in Australia before joining the ranks of Denis O’Connor in Ballyclough. Then came the crash, which led to Pat taking a leap of faith and starting out on his own.
He recalls. “I was put on a three-day week and so decided to register as a sole trader during the other two days. I got busy fairly quickly and decided the time was right to go out on my own full time. It wasn’t something I had planned; it just happened that way and thankfully we haven’t looked back.”
Pat is a stickler for clean and precise workmanship and this has been one of the non-negotiable trademarks of Pat Kelleher Plumbing & Heating’s unswerving ethos since its inception. “One of the main things for me is that we always do everything in our power to carry out neat and tidy work, with no call-backs,” he confirms. “No call-backs is our thing. We go there and do the job properly, every time.
“You have to be dependable and good to your word. When we agree a date and time with a customer, we always stick to that. It all comes back to looking after customers and giving them a quality service. A lot of this is down to my wife, Cheryl, who is a director in the business and looks after all the office work. Cheryl is a qualified accountant and she does unbelievable work behind the scenes, so I’m in good hands!”
Pat Kelleher Plumbing & Heating possesses the wherewithal, expertise and experience to successfully deliver value-added, contemporary commercial and domestic work. “It’s 50-50 between residential and commercial at the moment,” says Pat.
“In the last few years, it gravitated towards commercial. We did two hotels in Cork – an extension onto the Vienna Woods Hotel in Glanmire and a heating package for the new city-centre Premier Inn – as well as the Novel Student Accommodation development on the site of the old Coca-Cola factory on Carrigrohane Road and the mechanical package on Lysaghtstown solar farm substation which is currently the latest solar farm in the country. Even though we were very busy with the commercial work, we always kept a couple of vans on the road doing domestic work, too.
“We’re just in the process of finishing a large scheme for Mackee Construction in Bandon – a new primary care centre for Kiely Technical Services in Eastgate, Little Island – and we have plenty on at the moment along with doing our usual maintenance work for the local council and Alps electric Ireland.
“We have recently signed up with MAWDY, the Global Insurance Company, who through their Irish office offer a 24/7 emergency callout service for any plumbing related issue.
“Last year we worked on an upgrade works to the Gate Cinema in Cork, Wurth offices in Limerick, Mount Mercy College Cork, Mango Store in Cork and some others on the Main Street.”
Pat Kelleher Plumbing & Heating also works regularly on one-off new build homes.
“We work for around ten medium sized builders who each do up to five houses per year, so it’s a nice mix of everything. The apprentices who come in to us get great training because they see a good mix of everything right across the board and that learning and experience is invaluable to them going forward.”
Pat Kelleher Plumbing & Heating currently generates full-time employment for a team of ten – six fully-qualified men and four apprentices. “They are all good men, in fairness,” Pat points out. “We have pared it down to a lean crew and they are all happy. We’re at a good size for now but if any bigger projects came along I’d have no problem expanding again.
“Getting staff is a big issue, though, and I think that expands across the board. When I had a lot of big jobs on a couple of years ago and grew the team to 18, it was very difficult to source those men. The skills just don’t seem to be there at present and I’ve also noticed that there aren’t as many CVs coming in for apprenticeships either. But we are very happy with the lads we have here at the moment – it’s a strong and tight team all capable of doing neat and tidy work the way I like it.”
Having a multi-skilled team that has had practical exposure to all kinds of plumbing and heating work is priceless. “Domestic and commercial plumbing are two completely different things, for example, so you need expertise in all areas,” Pat concludes.
“The industry has changed dramatically in recent years and is completely different now to when I was training. Even the materials we are using are different, and there has been a big shift towards renewables. You have to stay with the times and keep yourself up to date by attending trade events and continually upskilling. You can’t ever think you know it all because every day is a school day.”
Pat Kelleher Plumbing & Heating Ltd.,
Cloverhill,
Millstreet,
County Cork.
Tel: 087 973 0364
Email: [email protected]
Web: kelleherplumbing.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, October 2024, Vol 10 No 10
Pat Kelleher Plumbing & Heating
