Providing a complete design, build and fit service for agri buildings from the ground up, Halcon Steel has developed into a tried and trusted market leader in its field since its inception in 2000. We visited their busy County Galway facility to get an update from Sales Manager Gavan Connell.
Employing the latest in cutting edge design, manufacture and steel production technologies, Halcon Steel Ltd. are a leading supplier of steel buildings to the structural, commercial, agricultural and domestic sectors.
CE- and SO EN1090-certified, they design, manufacture, supply and fit all types of buildings, steel, cladding, purlins, gutters and flashings as well as all types of roller doors, reinforcing steel and gates.
The company was established by John Connell at the start of the millennium and made an instant impression, quickly gaining a stellar reputation across the farming community as an industry-leading manufacturer of high-quality, bespoke sheds and buildings.
Operating from a state-of-the-art 36,000 square foot facility at Ballymote, Tuam, Halcon Steel continues to enjoy organic growth. At the time of writing, direct employment was generated for a crew of 27, incorporating technicians, engineers, specialists, sales, admin and support staff.
Halcon Steel is synonymous with four core activities, namely: the design and fabrication of structural steelwork, primarily for customers in the agricultural and industrial sectors; the manufacture and sale of steel cladding, roof and wall systems; steel reinforcing; and steel roller doors for the agricultural and commercial sectors.
“We started doing the roller doors in 2014. They are a lot safer and easier to operate than sliding doors,” notes Sales Manager Gavan Connell. “We have four lines to manufacture them here at the minute, with seven different doors manufactured in house, either single skin or insulated. All our rivals import their doors but we manufacture our own and that gives us a big advantage on the competition.
“We were buying them in ourselves initially but when you are installing four or five of these doors every week, it made sense to start manufacturing them. We saw a gap in the market because there weren’t many people in Ireland doing that. We’ve six people employed in the roller doors side of the business now and our aim is to build that up to twelve over the next three years
To this end, Halcon manufacture a complete range of garage doors to suit all agri, residential and commercial needs and are the recognised manufacturing partner of Teckentrup – Europe’s leading garage door system specialists. They also hold the agency for Teckentrup high-end residential doors.
Very much the foundation stone of the company, steel fabrication remains at the heart of Halcon Steel. From the largest dairy unit to the smallest storage building, Halcon can design, manufacture and install the ideal solution for every requirement. Their experienced engineers use the latest CAD technology to design buildings customised to each client’s specific requirements.
Up to 400 sheds and buildings are delivered every year, each element overseen by Halcon’s in-house engineers whilst each steel piece is completed in house at the Ballymote facility.
To augment their shed building capabilities, Halcon expanded their core business twelve years ago to include cladding. They now manufacture and supply all the cladding needs for their own buildings, as well as supplying other contractors. Halcon boasts the capacity to produce any cladding type, cut to measure, within 48 hours. As well as being quick and easy to install, cladding from Halcon is versatile for use in any building – farm, commercial or industrial.
On the back of delivering outstanding products and exceptional service levels, Halcon Steel continues to go from strength to strength. With a strong export business to Northern Ireland and the UK, however, they are not immune to the potentially-damaging spectre of Brexit which is hanging over the entire Irish agri sector:
“We’re very busy at the moment, although the insecurity in the market due to the uncertainty surrounding Brexit certainly doesn’t help. With Brexit on the horizon, people are reluctant to invest,” Gavan reveals.
“We have more than three months of work ahead of us at the moment, though, so things are going well. February and March were quieter than they usually would be, but the market always picks up from Paddy’s Day onwards and then you’re busy right through until Christmas.”
All Halcon buildings are designed to the highest specification, providing a robust, secure end product that can be tailored to the specific needs of each customer. Buildings are invariably delivered on time and to spec, always offering excellent value for money. Customer service is a primary consideration and the company is fully committed to continuously improving its products and service levels through ongoing investment and upskilling.
Agri accounts for the greater part of day-to-day business. “Around 65% of our work would be in agri and we work nationwide,” Gavan confirms. “Primarily, due to our location, we work in counties Galway, Mayo, Clare and Offaly but we’re in Kilkenny and Wexford this week for example, so business is island-wide. We also do a lot of structural steel for the interior of open-plan houses – another growing market.
“I suppose one of the key advantages we have is that we supply all the cladding ourselves from start to finish and also reinforcing steel for slatted tanks and roller doors, internal doors, etc. 99% of our competitors don’t offer these services but we have all the components and expertise to do that here in house.
“As we’re able to provide a full service in-house, we have complete control of everything from start to finish. Obviously, there are increased costs for machinery and other overheads but we can control that and avoid dealing with suppliers. Crucially, we also have control of quality. We can manufacture to our own requirements and standards, delivering high-quality products which are bespoke and manufactured to exact customer requirements.”
Farmers from near and far come back and do business with Halcon Steel over and over again as they have the capability to deliver all kinds of farm buildings from sheds and storage buildings to cubicle houses and dairy units.
Going forward, onwards and upwards is the goal: “We’re planning to buy in some new machinery,” Gavan concludes. “We’ve already purchased two new folding machines for cladding and we’re looking at another rollform machine for rolling cladding for the domestic market. We’re also looking at machinery for folding and punching pre-ventilated facades for houses.
“We’re trying to diversify all the time. Our residential cladding will be a different profile that’s not available on the Irish market yet, with a nice architectural design. We’re hoping to launch that in January.”
Halcon Steel,
Ballymote,
Tuam,
County Galway.
Tel: 093 26458
Email: [email protected]
Web: halconsteel.ie
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 7 No 6, November 2019
