A family-run business set-up in 1977, Eddie Roche & Sons Ltd specialises in concrete, formwork and construction across the agricultural, building and civil sectors. Irish Tractor & Agri heard more on the Wexford-based firm recently from Edward Roche.
Since its inception, Eddie Roche & Sons Ltd in Wells, Gorey, Co Wexford, has always been a company which prides itself on the quality of its work, along with the good name and strong relationships in which it has established with its customers.
Edward Roche is now the second generation of his family to become immersed in the company and was good enough to take some time recently to tell Irish Tractor & Agri what they’re all about.
“We’re on the go just over 40 years now. Over the years we have diversified somewhat but agri-building is still what we do best,” explained Edward.
“We have around 15 core long serving staff, my parents Eddie and Bernie are Managing Directors and my brother in-law Seamus is also with the company looking after the commercial and civil builds. My mother is definitely that great woman that stands behind many good men within our business.”
Eddie himself hits his mid-60s at the end of this year and still carries the drive and ambition he had when he started the business back in the 70’s.
As for Edward, he returned home at the end of 2017 after a seven-year stint working as a civil engineer in Australia to re-join the family company and has been busy in his duties ever since.
That’s no surprise either considering that Eddie Roche & Sons Ltd is a company which is known for continually offering assurance to its clients day in, day out, as well as adding value to varying construction projects of varying budgets.
The company also possesses a pro-active management approach and an abundant resource pool; they continue to be an innovative force in their industry, surpassing client expectations.
Indeed Eddie Roche & Sons Ltd offer a wide-range of concrete and construction services, with specialist people, plant & equipment, which enables them to consistently achieve smooth delivery of project components.
As for the agri aspect of the business, they offer full project completion or completion of concrete structural elements and groundworks within self-built projects.
“On the agri-building side we’d cover slatted tanks, milking parlours, silage pits, grain storage, machinery sheds and the odd stable for Farmers. We also complete many manufacturing and packaging facilities for agri providers such as Connolly’s Redmills and Abbey Machinery,” Edward outlined.
“We cover end to end from an agri point of view and we’re currently working on a good few medium size jobs along with a large scale warehouse building for Glanbia down in Belview. We also complete a number of private residential house builds per year along with site clearance, and construction up to ground floor for self builds, but our roots still remain in the farm building.”
Those “roots” which Edward refers to are dug deep in his father’s working background, having learned his trade working on a farm during his mid-teens.
“Dad grew up on the family farm and was 16 or 17 when he started to work fulltime on a large dairy farm near Dungarvin after he finished school. He spent his time milking and looking after the herd whilst also working on numerous self-build farm projects on the property. He was a good few years at it and started to learn his trade before he moved back to Wexford to continue working in construction before he started his own company,” said Edward.
When it comes to choosing Eddie Roche & Sons Ltd for agri services, customers can have confidence with over 40 years’ experience on their side.
The company are a government grant approved contractor and offer everything from beef and dairy slatted and layback units to grain storage. Milking parlours, silage pits and machinery sheds are also offered to their clients, so it’s little wonder why so many choose Eddie Roche & Sons first ahead of other competitors out there.
“We carry out both large scale and smaller scale jobs. Right now we are working on a milking parlour extension near Kilrush, Wexford, and another beef unit nearing completion in Avoca, Wicklow. The order book is healthy and we’re currently pricing a few bigger jobs,” said Edward.
Times are busy and the company recently added a 181 van to its fleet, as well as a new low-loader and specialist concrete finishing equipment to ensure they keep up with their clients’ current high demand.
The staff at Eddie Roche & Sons Ltd are driven to surpass their clients’ expectations and its one of the many reasons why those same clients continue to come back to the company time and time again. The company also has a top class health and safety culture with all staff fully trained to meet HSA & Solas CSCS standards.
“Repeat business is definitely a big factor in what we do here and we’ll basically go anywhere for our customers. We’ve been as far as Cork recently and we would cover all over Leinster all year round. We rarley advertise apart from the odd add to support local charities and clubs so it’s safe to say 99% of our business is word of mouth,” said Edward.
So what is it that has clients choosing Eddie Roche & Sons Ltd ahead of other competitors out there? Edward feels it comes down to one thing in particular.
“I would say a big factor is the experience and design input that dad brings when he goes to look at a job early in play, the advice that he gives to the client is second to none. We also pride ourselves on a providing a consistent quality product which is a great piece of mind for our clients,” he said.
“Dad has also got 48 head of pedigree Limousine cattle on the farm at home (Ballyrea Limousine), so he knows first-hand what works for the changing agri environment. He’s still a busy man even after he gets his concrete poured for the day, he’s still as driven as ever to succeed.”
Perhaps the company’s ethos is best described by Eddie Roche himself on its website (www.ercon.ie):
“Reputation & Relationships are key! They take a lifetime to build & minutes to destroy, with that mindset, we approach all projects, with the client in mind, offering smooth operations, consistently meeting deadlines and client expectations, delivering on time and on budget.”
It’s little wonder so many continue to choose Eddie Roche & Sons Ltd first…
Eddie Roche & Sons Ltd
Ballyrea,
Wells,
Gorey,
Co. Wexford
Tel: 053 93 89285
Email: [email protected]
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 6 No 5, August 2018
