Clifton Scannell Emerson Associates is an indigenous, progressive and innovative firm which specialises in providing integrated and high-quality engineering design and management services. Building Ireland touched base with Ronan Geoghegan, one of four directors in the company, to learn more about the ins and outs of the business now situated in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
Coming up on almost 70 years in business, Clifton Scannell Emerson Associates (CSEA) are experts when it comes to Civil, Structural, Transportation and Environmental Engineering, Project Management and Health & Safety.
The company operates with over 80 staff from its brand-new premises at The Highline Bakers Point,
Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
CSEA moved into its new offices this past April, having previously worked from its Blackrock base since the 1970s, and the plan now is to get the full crew of staff back and into their new home as soon as permitted.
Building Ireland caught up with company director Ronan Geoghegan to find out about some of the company’s current projects and the overall state of business at the moment.
“We’ve up to 85 full-time staff working here and, at the moment, the majority of them are working from home because of government restrictions,” Ronan outlined.
“Hopefully, we can get into our new offices with a full crew soon when restrictions allow for it.”
Indeed, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the government restrictions which have followed in order to combat the spread of the virus, have had its effects on businesses nationwide and CSEA are no different.
The shutdown of all non-essential projects at the start of this year had certain impacts on the company, but they’ve worked through it and are now looking forward to better times ahead.
Ronan’s fellow directors Geoff Emerson, Hubert Feneran and Pauraic Matthews, along with Geraldine Emerson (Director Business & HR) and Geoffrey J Emerson (Chairman), head up the company together and make sure that it has always adopted a customer centred approach down through the years.
This approach sees directors and senior personnel accessible at all times to their clients proving continuous loyalty and established long term relationships.
Right now, and with continued easing of government restrictions there are positive signs in the construction industry after a tough couple of months, according to Ronan.
“It’s going well now,” he said. “We’re kept going with a couple of essential projects and there seems to be some good movement in the economy still across the public and private sectors.”
Since ‘Day One’, CSEA’s mission has been to maintain and improve high standards in engineering design and project management and to continually enhance the reputation of the company through professional standards of service and a client focused approach.
The company also looks to plan for and implement the necessary procedures, structures and personnel development to meet the requirements of emerging markets and developing technologies.
Right now, CSEA’s workload includes Business Park developments, Roads, Greenway and Cycle Infrastructure, Bridge Design both vehicular and Pedestrian & Cycle Bridges, Public Realm Schemes, Data Centre developments with associated Power and Grid connections, Warehousing and Logistics and Housing and Apartment development. These projects are at various stages of development and are for a mixture of public and private Clients, as Ronan explained:
“We’re still working on a wide range of projects here, we’ve a lot going on in both the civil and structural sides of the business with a number of different works on Roads and Cycle infrastructure,” said the director.
“We’ve a number of Business Parks and Site Developments on-going and, on the structural side, we’ve a mixture of Warehouse and Logistics developments and a large body of work in the Data Centre sector as well.
“From my perspective, most of the sites I’ve been on have opened back up again, which is obviously a good sign for the industry.”
“At the moment, we’re also doing an upgrade of the baggage claim area in both Dublin and Cork Airports while it’s relatively quiet at this time.”
With over 25 Chartered Engineers in its workforce, CSEA holds a vast range of experience in all aspects of the engineering field.
So, what has been the secret to success for the company after almost seven decades?
According to Ronan, earning the trust of clients goes a long way in this line of work and has helped CSEA grow into the company it is today.
“We’ve built a strong relationship with our clients down through the years,” he said.
“I suppose they’ve trust in us and then there’s also the fact that we provide them with a quality and professional service expected from and Engineering Consultancy of our scale.”
CSEA have had long term business relationships with a good number of Local Authorities for decades now and those relationships continue to stay strong to this day.
Dedicated to providing high standards of Quality Design and Service to its clients, Clifton Scannell Emerson Associates is ISO 9001 QMS accredited.
It demonstrates the company’s high standards and service to their clients through ensuring all projects are planned from initial project plan through to inception, project stages and construction to handover.
All of the company’s projects are adequately resourced, as well as interjecting additional resources where necessary, all projects are continuously monitored in terms of budget, time and performance measures and all projects are ensured to adhere to the client’s budgeting and time requirements.
In addition, surveillance audits are conducted annually by the NSAI to ensure that CSEA’s Quality Management System continues to comply with the requirements of the ISO 9001 Quality Standards.
Needless to say, quality is always assured when it comes to projects undertaken by Clifton Scannell Emerson Associates.
Clifton Scannell Emerson Associates
3rd Floor The Highline Bakers Point,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin
A96 KW29
Tel: 01 288 5006
Fax: 01 283 3466
Email: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, September, Vol 7 No 9
Clifton Scannell Emerson Associates
