For a company to succeed in any industry, it must provide a quality and efficient service. Those who achieve this have generally placed a lot of hard work into building their business and it is not something that can be done overnight.
Experience is an essential factor in running a good business and this can only be gathered over time. It is no coincidence that during the last recession, the majority of companies that were forced to close their doors were still in their fledgling years, while those with a number of years’ experience are still trading today.
In 1971, James Goggin and John Buckley decided to go into business together with the aim of designing, fabricating, and erecting structural steelwork for agricultural, industrial and commercial buildings.
Forty four years later and Goggin Buckley Structural Steel is going stronger than ever with both James and John still as actively involved in the day to day running of the business as ever.
For this month’s edition of Irish Tractor & Agri, we speak to John about the success of the business and he explains to us how they have managed to come through not one but two recessions.
Working from a 40,000sq ft premises in Dromcollogher, Co Limerick, Goggin Buckley have completed projects all over the country as their reputation for providing the highest quality structural steel products to meet their customers’ fabrication specs.
“Myself and James started out the business in 1971. We started from a farmyard in Milford and the business has grown from there. Five years after setting up the business, we moved into our current premises, which is a purpose built facility,” said John.
“The production facility has a weekly capability of 150 tonnes of fabricated steel – enough to meet even the most demanding of projects. We have the space and the personnel for large fabrication projects and even on smaller jobs, we specialize in providing the best customer service anywhere.”
One of the secrets to their success is the ability to move with the times and invest in new plant in order for them to complete jobs to the highest standard.
“Times have changed dramatically over the years and we are continually investing in the business. We recently extended our automatic line and we utilise the most sophisticated, computer-aided manufacturing equipment available. We provide only the highest quality products and solutions for all our customers’ structural steel fabrication needs and can service clients throughout Ireland.”
John revealed that they have been involved in farm building since they first started and added that this was a big part of their business down through the years.
“At one stage, around 80% of our business was farm building. In 2008, we had a massive amount of work in this area, but it would be quieter these days and it takes up about 40% of our work load now. I think the farm building will pick up again as that’s the way it seems to go. It is now illegal for a farmer to erect any sort of structure without using a CE Certified structural steel company, which we hold.”
“We are still very busy though. The recession did hit us hard like it did many businesses, but fortunately we got through it. We used to have 120 working here, but that has been scaled back to between 40 and 60 depending on how busy we are.
“That was our second recession to come through and you learn a great deal from them. As long as you can keep the overheads down as much as possible, then you have a chance. The experience of the eighties certainly stood to us when the latest recession came.”
John stated that the tide is slowly turning and there has been a big increase in their workload in the last couple of years. “You can definitely see a change as year on year, we have been busier. We have projects ongoing in Dublin and Galway at the moment and we are very busy for the rest of the year.
“We have worked on some big contracts over the years including Galway GAA’s Pearse Stadium in Salthill, Galway Bay Golf Club House, International Folk Music Centre of Ireland, Ennis, Co Clare, Irish International Trading Corp, Kepak, Watergrasshill – New Boning & Packing Complex and Mallow Racecourse to name just a few.”
In more recent times Goggin Buckley Structural Steel have worked on contracts such as Dew Valley Foods, Thurles, Glen South Farm, Banteer, Munster Joinery, Ballydesmond, Medtronic Galway, Cork Audi Centre, AI Station, Mallow, Corrin Mart, Fermoy and Merit Medical, Galway to name but a few. Also other major projects include Dairygold, Mitchelstown, new Aldi stores throughout the country, Hewlett Packard, Galway, Listol Listowel, SuperValu shops throughout Munster and Eurofoiland Follain Teo., Ballyvourney.
Being involved in projects all over the country means a lot of work is done on site and health and safety is paramount for the company as for site erection of steel and cladding the company has invested heavily in a modern lifting plant and training to meet the highest safety standards.
“All of our employees would be trained to the highest standard and we would have all necessary H&S certs to carry out our duties. A lot of our employees are with us years and they have great knowledge of their jobs, so the customer can rest assured that it will be done efficiently. We have a fully automated, computer controlled, cutting and drilling line. This ensures that the design, fabrication and erection process produces cost effective, buildable structures that meet fully the expectations of our clients. All steel is shotblasted and painted to the highest standard of excellence.”
Goggin Buckley Structural Steel
Dromcollogher,
Co. Limerick
Web: www.gogginbuckley.com
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +353 63 – 83149
Fax: +353 63 – 83170
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 4, May 2015
Goggin Buckley Structural Steel
