The farming industry in Ireland is growing all the time and following the abolishing of the milk quota, dairy farmers in particular are set to increase the size of their farms.
While adding more stock to their herds and increasing their acreage will be a necessity if they want to grow, so too will be building of sheds to house the cattle in winter, as well as other purposes.
Any farmer will tell you that the construction of sheds doesn’t come cheap, but you pay for quality and that’s exactly what Cork based Nelgara Steel Buildings provides.
Established in Araglen in 2000, Nelgara Steel Buildings has grown its customer base year on year ever since with many coming back for repeat custom.
This family run business was set up fifteen years ago by William and Michael O’Keeffe who with many years’ experience industry decided to go out on their own and through a network of contacts that they had made over the years; they started building sheds for the agricultural, equestrian and commercial industries.
Coming from a farming background, William had an edge over his competitors in knowing what the farmer needed and giving them just that.
William spoke to Irish Tractor & Agri about what it takes to get where they are today.
“About 60% of our workload would be for the agricultural industry, while 20% would be for the equestrian sector and the remaining 20 would be for the commercial industry,” said William.
“Nelgara Steel has always placed a great emphasis on customer satisfaction and that has stood us in good stead over the years. About 90% of our customer base would be repeat custom and not only do we cover Cork and most of Munster, but we go where the work takes us and we recently worked on a job in Longford.”
Nelgara Steel Buildings employ five people, all of who are highly trained in their field of expertise, which William admits helps keep up their high standards.
“Many of the people here have been with us for years. They are very experienced at this stage and without them, none of the success would have been achieved.”
Nelgara’s success to date has been built on going the extra mile for their customers. They bring a wealth of experience and industry know-how to bear on each project to ensure that their clients get the solution they need at the best price.
“We work hard to protect our reputation as we know our business is dependent on positive referrals from past customers. We value honesty, hard work and integrity in our business dealings and we think our customers and staff appreciate this approach.”
Nelgara Steel Buildings make all types of sheds and they can supply and fit or supply only if the customer wishes. They have a wide range of slatted units, bedding units, stables, horse arenas, stores, warehouse and garages as part of their portfolio.
“Apart from the wide variety of sheds that we manufacture, we can also use a wide range of sheeting from corrugated and box profile to insulated cladding.
“We deal with Tegral, Euroclad and Steadmans for all our sheeting. Tegral and Euroclad on farm buildings and Steadmans would be the insulated cladding. We know that to build the best you must use the best suppliers and that is why we use these companies.
“In short, if you need any type of the buildings built well and at a reasonable price, give us a call and we will be happy to provide a free quotation.”
William admits that after a few lean years during the last recession, business has really taken off in the last 18 months or so.
“We are flat out since last August 12 months. We are happy with the direction of the business and where we are headed. Our customers seem to be happy with our work and that is what it is all about at the end of the day.
“We have a good rapport with our customers and we will ensure that they are happy with the job that we do.”
Nelgara Steel Buildings are CE Certified and this allows them to carry out any structural steelwork. The European standard for the CE Marking of structural steelwork, EN 1090-1, came into force in January 2011. Steelwork contractors now have to CE Mark their fabricated steelwork. Since 1st July 2014, it has become a legal requirement to CE Mark all structural steelwork. In order to be able to CE Mark their steelwork, contractors have to implement a certified Factory Production Control (FPC) system.
“We are compliant to all the necessary legislation needed to carry out our work. It is illegal now for a farmer to construct his own farm building.”
The Nelgara Steel Buildings’ website sums up what the company aims to achieve as their philosophy is: “Look after our customers and our business will do well. We know that the most important part of our business are our customers and so we do whatever it takes to keep them satisfied with us.
So whatever your building needs, call us and we will provide the solution you need at the price you want.”
Nelgara Steel Buildings,
Araglen,
Kilworth
Co. Cork
Tel: 058 50092
Fax: 058 50092
William Mobile: 087 6918689
e: [email protected]
email: [email protected]
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 6, July 2015
