T&A Civil Engineering & Building Contractors Ltd has earned an enviable reputation as a leading provider of civil engineering and building solutions in the Munster region.
With its head office based in Conna, Co. Cork, four miles from the Waterford border, T&A is conveniently located to cover all parts of the southern province. A rapidly growing company, it has forged strong relations with some major clients in both the private and public sectors, ranging from Sirio Homes, HBS Construction, Conack, JJ Rhatigan, Bridgewater Construction, O’Connell Group, and Cork County Council are just some of T&A’s clientele. T&A’s innate understanding of the civil engineering processes and the need to control project costs sets it apart from many of its competitors.
The family business was formed as a limited company in 2002 by husband-and-wife Tom and Antoinette O’Donnell who have five children, all of whom at some point over the past number of years contributed to the family business. Chris, their eldest son, is currently a Site Manager and is very involved in the business. He has a degree in Occupational Health & Safety and a degree in Construction Management. Chris takes great pride in his work and is proving to be a huge asset to the business.
Another son, Steve, who also worked in the family business for several years, is currently based in Australia working with an Irish contractor as a Project Manager, Thomas, now a trainee solicitor in Dublin, along with Chris, was responsible for T&A being accredited the ISO9001 in 2023. Linda is in her final year of Nursing and while she didn’t make any hand of driving the excavator, her organisational skills and bringing everyone down to earth are very welcome. Adam, the youngest, is currently a heavy goods mechanic apprentice with West Waterford Agri. Adam’s love for machinery started at a very young age, while his skill and knowledge are very much welcomed when it comes to servicing and repairing machines.
They are joined by a 24-strong team who are supported and supplemented by the same tried and trusted subcontractors.
“Our business is split evenly between civils and building,” Antoinette explains.
“It goes without saying that our entire team is our greatest asset. Our team is very flexible – they can turn their hand to anything. At a time when there is a major shortage of skilled labour in the industry, we are very lucky to have them. The Government should be doing more to encourage apprenticeships and get more young people trained up as they are the future of the construction industry.”
T&A has experienced some significant highs as well as having to endure some trying times throughout its history. As it reflects on 22 years as a limited company (Tom had operated as a sole trader for 10 years previously), recent events and accomplishments serve as a reminder of how T&A has come as an organisation.
In 2022, the company was recognised at the Irish Construction Industry Awards for its work on the Blackwater Distillery. More recently, it was acknowledged as one of the top-three family businesses in Cork at the Cork Business Awards. Being recognised as one of the standout organisations in these categories has filled the company with immense pride.
As well as enjoying such recognition, T&A was ISO 9001 accredited in May 2023. An unwavering commitment to Health & Safety recently saw it achieve the Safe-T-Cert for the fifth year in-a-row. The past year has also seen the Co. Cork firm secure some of its most prestigious and ambitious projects to date. These include civil work on two new residential developments for Sirio Homes in Cobh and Douglas, refurbishment works to St Mary’s Parish Church in Midleton and the regeneration of a site with derelict buildings in Villierstown, Co. Waterford into a multi-purpose community space/hub.
Furthermore, T&A is engaged in a number of one-off house projects, group housing schemes and renovation / extension works to schools for the Department of Education, GAA clubs and Community Halls. In this regard, T&A is excited to continue to deliver advanced and innovative solutions into the future.
“None of this would have been possible without the continued and unrivalled support of our staff, both on and off site. Equally, the relationships we have forged over the past two decades with clients in both the private and public sectors, subcontractors, suppliers and the community have also been critical to our ongoing success,” Antoinette adds.
“We have sponsored St Catherine’s GAA club for the past seven years and were very proud to be part of their achievement in reaching the All-Ireland junior club hurling final in Croke Park on January 13 last. We would like to take this opportunity to wish Denis Walsh (the former Cork dual football and hurling star and Cork hurling manager) and his team, and all at St Catherine’s GAA club, the very best for the remainder of 2024.”
While T&A offers a variety of building services, deep drainage, concrete works and ducting, its competitive advantage stems from its ability to deliver exceptional groundwork services. Its experience in this field is second to none, with many of the team being T&A veterans who have worked with the organisation for over 10 years. These individuals have been able to transfer their knowledge and expertise down to their newer employees to ensure that all of their unique skills are retained within the organisation.
While all projects will experience setbacks and encounter obstacles, T&A’s staff are regularly commended for their professionalism and attention to detail, which is something main contractors have identified as a key skill in preventing timely and costly reworks.
Although T&A are confident in all their staff’s ability to continue delivering excellent Groundwork solutions, the company also believes that they can always improve. That is why it has actively invested in continuous development of its staff, which has seen two of its site managers complete part-time third level education courses in Construction Management in 2021. One of these employees had previously graduated with a Level 8 Degree in Occupational Health and Safety at Work in 2019.
This progressive approach has allowed the company to expand its industry knowledge, encouraging them to reflect on more effective ways of carrying out their groundwork operations.
Just as its experienced staff have been able to transfer their expertise to the rest of the organisation, T&A’s site managers and office staff ensure the knowledge gained from their programmes benefits the entire organisation by encouraging implementation of new practices and principles across the team.
In addition, T&A boasts an impressive fleet of machinery, which is perhaps their greatest competitive advantage over its competitors. The fleet has been developed by remaining extremely open-minded when it comes to plant and equipment and not settling for the cheapest option, but instead focusing on developing a reliant fleet that allows the company to perform.
By investing heavily in its fleet, T&A has been able to develop a unique portfolio which it constantly upgrades by purchasing new additions every year, never settling with the current set-up, and always striving to ensure services are carried out with the most modern and technologically-advanced machines on the market.
Accruing such a portfolio of machines has reduced T&A’s reliance on hiring equipment to complete works, which is another reason why large contractors trust it to carry out the groundworks on their projects, as they know they will have the availability and reliance of machines to carry out work as required.
Asked what the secrets of T&A’s success are, Tom O’Donnell replies: “I’m very much hands-on in my approach. I’m involved in all projects, whether civils or building, every day and I go around to every site. Having a good hardworking team around you is the key to any successful business, without them T&A would not be where it is today.
“On top of that, we’re a family-run business. Everyone at home at some stage, no matter what age, has played their part in the business, be it summer work, Saturday work or during school holidays, or their input at the dinner table.
“Sub-contractor work is very important to us, but you have better control over projects when you are the main contractor and that’s what we want to focus on going forward. Antoinette and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our dedicated team of staff, customers and suppliers as well as everyone who has supported T&A over the years,” he concludes.
T&A Civil Engineering and Building Contractors Ltd.
Main Street,
Conna,
Co. Cork,
P51 P5K2.
Tel: +353 (0) 58 69995
Mob: 087 8354284
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.tabuildingandcivilengineering.com
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, September 2024, Vol 10 No 9
