These past two decades have seen Architectural Steel & Mechanical Services (ASMS) grow into a leader within the Irish construction industry, providing complete mechanical services and maintenance support contracts. Building Ireland touched base with Business Development Manager, Hubert Burrows to hear about the company’s current projects, along with its overall hopes going forward.
Next year is set to mark the 20th anniversary of Architectural Steel & Mechanical Services (ASMS) and, to this day, efficiency remains one of the key ingredients to the company’s success.
Based in Waterfront Business Park, Little Island, Co Cork, ASMS employs some 60 full-time staff and operates on a national scale from small to medium sized projects serving a multitude of commercial, industrial and institutional clients.
Long-time clients include PJ Hegarty & Sons, the HSE, UCC, An Garda and Cork University Hospital, to name but a few, and the list seemingly keeps growing.
Building Ireland caught up with company Business Development Manager, Hubert Burrows to find out about the state of business these days at ASMS.
“It’s been strange, if I’m to be totally honest. A lot of tendering and not a lot of projects going to site,” he outlined.
“There’s an awful lot of tendering going on at the moment and we just don’t know if it is the market at the moment, or where it is.
“We’re lucky that we have a lot of existing clients that we know they’re going to go ahead with their projects. We’re lucky in that regard.
“We have a significant amount of maintenance contracts on our books currently, one of our largest clients is the HSE South, we are currently maintaining between 340 – 350 properties for the HSE from critical to non-critical.
“That’s just the HSE. We’d have a lot of other maintenance projects also on our portfolio i.e. Credit Unions and nursing homes etc.”
Since ‘Day One’, efficiency has played an integral role in the Cork company’s success and ultimate longevity, as it has developed the strengths, resources and flexibility that have built it into one of the most successful companies of its kind in Ireland.
Over the years, maintenance work has been the backbone of ASMS and they have a number of on-going mechanical services contracts.
Right now, the company is immersed in a number of different projects nationwide and also has one coming up which is close to home, as its Business Development Manager explained.
“We’re working in Apple for PJ Hegarty & Sons. We are currently carrying out the mechanical services up there and the site is so big, that there are several mechanical contractors onsite. We’re one of three,” said Hubert.
“We’re working in UCC all the time and we have a new project kicking off for us in March which is Mallow Swimming Pool. It’s a €1.1m mechanical services job and then there’s a couple of jobs in UCC that we’re working on both direct for UCC and nominated to a Main Contractor.”
Another project close to home which ASMS were proud to be associated with was the Midleton Distillery Experience visitor centre.
Celebrating its 200th anniversary this year, Midleton Distillery saw its visitor centre undergo an extensive multi-million-euro redevelopment and transform into a new world-class, multi-sensory Irish whiskey experience. It was officially opened by then Tánaiste Micheál Martin in 2023, with PJ Hegarty & Sons earning award success for it since that time.
So, the burning question is, what is it about ASMS that has high-profile clients such as PJ Hegarty & Sons choosing it first ahead of other competitors out there?
How has a small start-up grown into what is now very much a thriving mechanical services firm which holds an excellent reputation amongst its clientele?
“I hope it’s quality as much as anything else – quality and personnel,” Hubert surmised.
“It’s not just us here in the office and management level, it’s the people that we have working for us to be fair. All the way through from the ground up, everybody we bring on board with us we trust, and our clients obviously get on very well with them throughout.
“Our Contract Managers, Supervisors to our accounts department, everyone is part of a team. They have a job to do, and they do it well and we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them. A lot of our staff have been with us for years.”
Of course, Health & Safety is also paramount for ASMS and it’s the company’s policy to comply with all statutory and regulatory safety requirements, and to secure a workplace that is safe and healthy for its employees and persons not employed by the business who may be affected by its activities.
Forever diversifying ASMS branched into the Laboratory Furniture fit out industry partnering with JMS, a long-standing company for 40 years in the Pharmaceutical and Lifesciences sector. Jim Murray exited the business in 2018 for a well-earned retirement and JMS transitioned to Labmodul Ireland under the ASMS umbrella.
“We secured the agency for Labmodul who are one of the leading European manufacturers and suppliers of Laboratory furniture and associated products, transforming workspaces for our Pharmaceutical and Life science clients,” explained Hubert.
“Recent successful projects with Pfizer, Thermo Fisher, GSK, Heineken and BioMarin to mention a few, strategically place ASMS/Labmodul at the forefront of laboratory design. Working closely with our Architects / BIM specialists and assisting the Major design specialists as PM Group / Jacobs to satisfy our clients requirements with sustainable and functional solutions for their modern designs.”
Looking at the months ahead, Hubert’s optimistic that ASMS can continue its growing trend even in what he says are “tough times”.
“Obviously, we would hope to keep growing and increase our market share, we are in tough times but with our experience and our working relationship with both our clients and Main Contractors we are positive for the year ahead,” the Business Development Manager stated.
He concluded: “We are in tough times and the market dictates the way things are going, unfortunately.”
ASMS
Unit 4A
Waterfront Business Park,
Little Island,
Co Cork (T45 FT28)
Tel: 021 4384 284
[email protected] / 086 – 2202896
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.asms.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, June 2025, Vol 11 No 6
