Quinn Downes have been a leader in mechanical services in this country for more than 15 years now, so Building Ireland felt it was time to catch up with company co-owner Derek Downes to learn more about the Dublin-based business.
Since its inception in 1999, Quinn Downes in Dublin 12 has endeavoured to ensure that the work they carry out for their clients is delivered to them with constant quality and reliability.
Derek Downes has been involved in the mechanical services industry all of his working life and gave us some insight into the company that he and Wexford man Pat Quinn founded some 17 years ago.
“We set-up in 1999 and recently moved to a new address at Unit H17, Centre Point Business Park, Oak Road, Dublin 12, after having spent those prior years at Canal Walk, Park West,” explained Derek.
“There are two companies here; Quinn Downes Installation and then in January of last year we set-up Quinn Downes Service and Maintenance. We have over 50 employees between the two companies and there are two directors in Quinn Downes Installation – myself and Pat Quinn. There are four directors in Quinn Downes Service and Maintenance with myself and Pat being joined by David Brady and Alan Carton.”
The history behind Quinn Downes stretches back 30 years, when Derek and Pat first worked alongside one another for another firm. After Derek moved on from that company, the pair would cross paths again more than 10 years later and take the decision to forge a business partnership of their own.
“Myself and Pat met working for a different company back in 1986,” Derek confirmed. “I went on and worked for a few different companies and we ended up starting this company more than a decade later.
“The two of us pride ourselves on carrying out work to the highest standard. We ensure that our employees are reliable and that the work we carry out is to the highest quality possible.”
Today, Quinn Downes is a mechanical services provider whose name is synonymous with high quality mechanical installations.
From its Dublin headquarters, the company have operated in the field of installation, commissioning and aftercare service of mechanical, process and H.V.A.C. systems with great success, as their client portfolio verifies.
They strive to offer a professional and reliable package to their clients. This policy has consistently been rewarded with follow-on contracts from direct clients, consultant engineers, architects and facilities managers.
Quinn Downes’ ambition is to grow steadily so as to put them in a position to win larger and more prestigious contracts, whilst always maintaining their fundamental policy of paying attention to detail and continuing to provide excellent support to all of their existing clients.
The experience that they have gathered down through the years from the considerable variety of projects that they have been involved with enables them to offer their clients a wide range of services from the inception of a design concept for a building to its final installation and subsequent aftercare.
Besides being directly involved in the installation of mechanical services for a particular project, they also employ specialist sub-contractors in many diverse fields to enable them to provide a complete package to their clients.
Quinn Downes only employs sub-contractors whose dedication to quality is similar to their own.
“Quinn Downes Installation carries out Mechanical Services and crosses all sectors from retail, healthcare, public service etc,”explained Derek.
“Quinn Downes Service and Maintenance is involved in emergency call out, 24/7, 365 days a year. We carry out that service for all sorts of projects, big or small, and provide all services.”
The services the company provide include the installation of L.P.H.W. Systems in Hospitals, Schools, Colleges, Restaurants, Laboratories and Offices, along with Plumbing and Waste Systems.
Quinn Downes also installs Process Systems, Ventilation Systems, Environmental Controls, Medical Gases Systems and Associated Building and Electrical Services.
Derek outlined that at this particular period the company is experiencing very busy times, with plenty more projects already lined up for second half of 2016.
“Business is very good,” he stated. “We have a lot of work on right now and at the end of last year we made the move into a much larger office building in Centre Point, which gives us the capacity to continue to grow into the future.
“We have a good second half of the year ahead of us now with a big project at Beaumont Hospital and another project at St James Hospital as well.”
As for the economic downturn which hurt so many companies in the Irish construction industry, Derek revealed that the latter years of the recession actually saw an increase in turnover and profits for the company.
“It affected us initially but we came to terms with it. In fact, we have increased our annual turnover in the last three or four years,” he said.
So why is it that Quinn Downes’ clientele are choosing them first for mechanical installation?
“We try to provide value in every single way that we can,” Derek responded.
“We are always trying to deliver high quality and we have the design capability in our office here as well. We also pay particular attention to the requirements of the client and we are always there for them when they need us.
“With Quinn Downes Service and Installation, we are there offering emergency call out, PPM, 24/7 365 days a year for our clients and have taken it from the design stage to post-handover stage.”
The Dublin native continued: “Quality and reliability are our ethos, which I feel is key for customers. As I said, we have over 50 staff and that includes our own site foremen. Our model is not to sub out the contract work that we get, as we have the men here to do it, and Health & Safety is also a very important aspect for us.”
The long list of clientele that Quinn Downes has built up over the past 17 years is something that both Derek and Pat are immensely proud of, with companies coming from various different sectors of Irish life and business.
“We’ve done past projects for the HSE and the Education sector and overseas we’ve completed jobs for the O’Callaghan Hotel Group in Gibraltar,” Derek revealed.
“Some of the hospital work we’ve done here includes Our Lady Of Lourdes in Drogheda, Tullamore Hospital, St Joe’s Hospital in Raheny and Beaumont Hospital.
“We’ve also completed work on the National Museum of Ireland, St Vincent’s de Paul, the Department of Trade and Industry, Hewlett Packard and Deloitte to name but a few.”
It’s safe to assume that the high-profile projects will continue to come for Quinn Downes, considering the reputation it’s earned over the past 17 years.
Quinn Downes Group
Address: Unit H17, Centre Point
Business Park, Oak Rd, Dublin 12
Tel: +353 (0)1 4243300
Service number: +353 (0)1 4242424
Web: www.quinndownes.com
E-mail: [email protected]
Taken from Building Ireland Magazine, August 2016, Vol 2 No 4
