Over the last 28 years and counting, Crosserlough Construction has established itself as one of the premier residential and commercial building contractors in Cavan and surrounding counties. We touched base with Niall McGaughran to find out more about this exceptional family-run business.
In conjunction with Cavan County Council, Crosserlough Construction has spent a large part of 2018 delivering two high-quality social housing projects, comprising twelve units in total, in Butlersbridge and Ballyhaise, County Cavan.
The company has almost three decades of experience at the forefront of the construction industry and has worked on a variety of private and public projects down through the years – from residential developments and one-off houses to office fit-outs, school extensions, filling stations, crèches and health centres.
Residential developments have been the mainstay of the business since its inception and the seamless move into social housing in the last twelve months or so epitomises their versatility and professionalism, forged through years of experience of rolling up their sleeves on site and getting the job done to the highest possible standards.
“The first social housing development, which has been handed over, was a new development of four houses at Cois Annalee in Butlersbridge,” reveals Niall McGaughran. “We’re now working on eight new houses, which is an infill development at Woodlands Housing Estate in Ballyhaise. This one is two- and three-bedroom house project, which will be finished in Q4 2018. As main contractor on those schemes, we are responsible for building, civils, ancillary work and fit-outs.”
As is par for the course with Crosserlough Construction, the projects are being delivered on time and within budget, which is made possible by the dedicated workforce, subcontractors and suppliers engaged.
The business was started by Niall’s parents, Jim and Ann, in June, 1990. “They started out primarily as residential construction contractors doing private houses,” he reflects. “They built it up over the years and we now have nine people employed full time alongside a number of regular, proven subcontractors.
“We stayed with residential contracts and extensions for about ten years and then around 1998 started doing residential developments. We also went into commercial development around that time but then when the recession hit we got out of development work for a while and continued on as general contractors doing residential and commercial work.
“The main core of the work now is office and shop fit-outs; commercial and residential contracting; and providing a maintenance service. We also undertake a small element of civil contracting. To this day, we still do a lot of private houses and extensions, while we’ve moved onto the social housing schemes with Cavan County Council and are delighted to be on our second one of those.”
Other services provided include school extensions and renovations as well as HSE fit-outs. To this end, Crosserlough Construction has been accepted onto the North Eastern and North Western Health Boards’ framework to tender for work and have already renovated rooms at Oldcastle, Slane and Dunshaughlin Health Centres in County Meath, with more similar projects likely to follow in both regions.
Niall confirms that they are also hoping to expand into neighbouring counties for social housing projects, while they have also made a return to development work in line with improving market conditions.
From small extensions to largescale developments, Crosserlough Construction can deliver dependable and competitively-priced building solutions on all sizes of residential construction projects. Every client is treated with the utmost respect and each building receives absolute care and attention to detail from inception through to completion. Invariably, the end result constitutes a glowing endorsement of Crosserlough Construction’s capabilities and this is why they receive so many referrals through positive word of mouth.
As for the secret of the company’s success and longevity, Niall notes: “Going by what Jim taught us all down through the years, it’s all about quality. No matter what you are working on, you have to do it to the highest possible quality and don’t let your reputation be tarnished by poor workmanship. That’s always been our motto and we live by it.
“You like to give customers something exciting – a high-quality finish with a lasting impression of quality.
“In order to ensure that our standards never slip, training is another thing that we push in the company. From site operatives through to management, we provide continuous training and we’re also zoned in on safety. Whatever you do, it has to be safe.
“Our systems & procedures are fully certified to ISO 9001, 14001 and SafeTcert standards for quality, environmental & safety. Health & Safety is the No.1 consideration when it comes to working on site; quality is No.1 for the client; and environmental awareness is a huge importance in construction today”
The demise of the so-called Celtic Tiger around a decade ago triggered an economic collapse that threatened the very livelihoods of everybody involved in the construction sector. Only the strongest survived and Niall is pleased to report that things are picking up again locally:
“The doom and gloom seem to be gone,” he observes. “In the Cavan area in the last 12-15 months, even on private houses, there has been an increase in interest and rising confidence. We’re actively doing a lot of private one-off houses and extensions – that would be a big part of it. There’s something especially pleasing about that line of work because it’s the client’s dream home that you are working on and we work with them to fulfil their expectations – you can derive a great deal of personal satisfaction when you see how happy they are after you hand over the keys. Turning people’s dreams into a reality is a great feeling – as good as any business transaction.
“It’s the same when we do development work. Again, there’s a really good feeling attached to it when you see happy people moving into the houses on sites that you developed,” the personable Cavan man concludes.
Crosserlough Construction also provide a keen civil contracting & groundworks service, to both they’re own developments, public & private clients, again delivering the quality workmanship for which they are renowned. As they move ominously towards their 30th anniversary, it’s clear that there are a few more chapters remaining to be written in this particular success story!
Crosserlough Construction,
Drumeagle,
Crosserlough,
County Cavan.
Tel: 049 4368895
Email: [email protected]
www.crosserloughconstruction.ie
Facebook: facebook.com/crosserloughconstrucion
Taken from Building Ireland Magazine, October 2018, Vol 4 No 9
