Operating from Naas, Co. Kildare since 1998, Nugent Manufacturing Ltd is a leading specialist steel fabrication and erection company which recently completed a hat-trick of successes. Founder and managing director Stephen Nugent explains more.
Nugent Manufacturing Ltd had three great reasons to celebrate earlier this year when it achieved the CE Marking standard for steel fabrication and the Quality Standard ISO 9001-2008, as well as triumphing in the ‘Energy & Environmental Sustainability’ category in the Small Firms Association’s Small Business Awards.
On March 4, following a year-long implementation of a Factory Production Control programme, it achieved the CE Marking for the steel fabrication industry EN-1090 up to Execution Class 2, which is now a legal requirement for all fabricated steel. The standard for fabricated structural steelwork is BS EN 1090: Execution of steel structures and aluminium structures.
The BS EN 1090-1 standard came into force on July 1 2014 and its scope is very wide-ranging, covering structural steel and aluminium components and steel components for use in composite and concrete structures. Nugent Manufacturing was also awarded with accreditation to the Quality Standard ISO 9001-2008.
On the same evening of March 4, at the RDS in Dublin, the Naas-based company was crowned the overall winner in the Small Firms Association’s Small Business Awards 2015 in the ‘Energy and Environmental Sustainability’ category. In addition, Nugent Manufacturing was a runner-up in the ‘Manufacturing’ category. The company was also a finalist five years ago in the same category.
The award was presented by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD in the presence of AJ Noonan and Patricia Callan, Small Firms Association chair and director respectively, in the splendid surroundings of the RDS Library. Stephen Nugent dedicated the award to all his staff, for their “tireless determination to make Nugent Manufacturing a world-class quality company.”
“It has been a great year so far,” enthuses Stephen, who founded the company along with his wife Helen.
“It was a big deal for us to achieve the CE Marking, especially after the amount of time and money we invested in our Factory Production Control programme. If you’re a steel fabrication company that isn’t CE accredited nowadays, you don’t make steel. It’s a simple as that. It’s all about traceability and I welcome the fact that there is a level playing field within the industry for the first time. We now have a standard in our industry that guarantees the customer a particular level of expertise and quality.
“We were also delighted to secure the Quality Standard ISO 9001-2008, while the Small Business Award was the icing on the cake.”
Stephen admits the difficulties Nugent Manufacturing faced during the recession make him more appreciative of the honours that have come the company’s way.
“The recession was tough for everyone in our industry. We had to scale down our operation, take pay cuts and so on. At the peak of the boom, we employed 33 staff plus sub-contractors. That figure fell as low as eight during the recession, but now we’re back up to 18. It has been a learning curve and I’d like to think that we have come out of it a stronger and better company,” he says.
A native of Dublin, Stephen had worked in the construction industry both home and abroad for 15 years before deciding to set up his own company.
From its 11,000 square feet purpose-built workshop in Naas, Nugent Manufacturing offers customers a complete package of design, manufacture and erection of structural and architectural steelwork. It is a customer-driven company that places a strong emphasis on performance and a “hands on” management approach to ensure client satisfaction. Nugent Manufacturing can be relied on to deliver the highest standard of quality.
“Whatever way the client wants their steel, we can provide it,” the affable managing director points out.
The company’s works include structural steel, miscellaneous metalwork, air handling unit platforms, walkways, balconies, fire escapes, specialist commissioned Artwork, gateways and railings.
Recent projects include Diageo, Microsoft, Aviva and Croke Park stadiums, Dundrum Shopping Centre, Mountjoy Prison and Athboy Community School. Nugent fabricated the “Hanging Pink Pod”, Pods and the Dynamic Corten Walkway of the “Irish Sky Garden”, for which celebrity TV gardener Diarmuid Gavin was voted “People’s Choice Award” and winner of the coveted Gold Medal at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2011. Other projects were undertaken at the Gaiety Theatre and the Whitewater Shopping Centre in Newbridge, Co. Kildare.
More recently, the company was commissioned to fabricate and erect “The Way Ahead” sculpture on the new Mullingar Bypass for the renowned artist Bob Quinn.
In the retail sector, Nugent Manufacturing has successfully completed contracts for Tesco, Dunnes Stores, B&Q, M&S, Lidl, Aldi and Penneys. Numerous contracts have also been carried out in the banks, arts, residential, pharmaceutical, health care, food and drink, sports and recreational, educational and transport sectors.
“We have a wide variety of clients, ranging from the Sisk Group and PJ Hegarty & Sons in the construction sector to AIB and Microsoft in the bank and data centre sectors. We’re nearing the end of a major project we’ve been working on for Mircosoft in Dublin’s Grangecastle for the past eight years,” Stephen explains.
A brother of the well-known singer Kathy Nugent, Stephen and his wife Helen live in The Curragh with their teenage children, Keelin (19), Matthew (16) and Laoise (14).
Nugent Manufacturing Ltd
Unit Q2,
M7 Business Park,
Newhall,
Naas,
Co. Kildare.
Telephone: 045 898101
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.nugentmanufacturing.ie
Taken from Building Ireland magazine Vol 1 No 1, Autumn 2015
