County Fermanagh based Steel Fab Construction is one of Ireland’s premier agricultural shed fabricators. We dropped into their Brookeborough HQ to gain an insight into the outstanding family business – and the products and services provided – from co-founder / director Robert McCullagh.
Steel Fab Construction was established by brothers Robert and Timothy McCullagh in 1990 and operates out of a purpose-built facility on Brookeborough’s Lisnaskea Road in County Fermanagh. Thirty years earlier, their father, Andrew McCullagh, established his business as a mechanic and land drainage contractor on the same site.
Boasting almost 50 years’ experience between them in fabricating steel for construction jobs – agricultural sheds, steel, cladding galvanising, commercial and industrial buildings and domestic garages – the McCullaghs have forged an unrivalled reputation island-wide for the construction of high-quality buildings, with recent projects completed including factories, shops, retail units, churches, horse arenas and agricultural farm buildings.
Farm sheds are available with clear spans up to 40 metres. All sheds are tailor-made to suit individual requirements, with all types of cladding available.
“Our father was an agricultural contractor and he also did land drainage and cleaned rivers for the Department of Agriculture,” Robert notes. “He had a garage here, where he did mechanical repairs from 1960 onwards, so we followed on on the same site. We took down the garage and built a new workshop for steel fabrication.
“We started off by doing smaller-type farm sheds and agriculture has always been our main line of work. Steel Fab started out as a small and local operation but we then developed into doing larger commercial buildings and all manner of commercial steel.”
Today, Robert and Timothy are joined in the family business by their sister, Linda Benson (accounts), while Linda’s husband Paul is employed as a foreman.
Current projects include structural steel fabrication for a number of piggeries. “We do piggeries from here to County Clare,” Robert notes. “At the moment, we’re doing the structural steel for a large piggery for Jetwash Ltd. in Carrigallen and we’re also doing a piggery for Malcolm Keys in Clogher. As well as the structural steel, we also supply the cladding, gutters, timber etc. and anything else that goes with the shed.”
Flat-pack kits have become extremely popular. “We specialise in flat-pack kits,” Robert continues. “We supply and deliver the kit and the farmer can build the shed himself, or get somebody to build it, or we can provide that service for him. We’d have contacts for a number of lads around the country who specialise in fitting and we’d also have our own team working on fitting sheds full-time ourselves. The flat-packs are being delivered anywhere and everywhere – all over Ireland, down as far as Cork, and into Scotland and England.”
With their own fleet of trucks (an artic with a low loader and 45ft flat trailer plus a rigid with a 24ft body), teleporters and access platforms, Steel Fab Construction is very much a one-stop shop for all structural steel fabrication services. “We can make the sheds to order or in standard sizes – 60×30 and 80x 40 would be the most popular sizes,” Robert McCullagh states. “You have to have a fast turnaround and be able to provide a frame within weeks. We do all the manufacturing here on site, including roller shutter doors, sheeting, timber, spouting – anything the farmer is going to need in his finished shed.
“We’d have a lot of repeat business. The likes of Sean McMahon Storage & Distribution in County Meath, we’d have done around ten sheds for him to date and there’d be a lot of farmers like that who come back for another shed. Thankfully, we have a very good portfolio of excellent customers.
“The agricultural shed is definitely our main line at present. We still do the commercial and industrial buildings but that’s not as busy as it was during the boom times, although there are signs that end of the market is starting to pick up again. Farm buildings are still our bread and butter.”
The business is currently experiencing expansion and the McCullagh brothers were recently able to increase their staff size to nine full-time employees. In terms of the volume of sheds turned over, Robert reveals: “There is no typical week, so it all depends. We could sell five average-sized sheds in a week or three larger ones. I’d say we sell between 250 and 300 sheds in a year. We could have up to 40 sheds on order at any given time and those orders would all be at different stages of development.”
How difficult is it to strike the right balance between quality and price? “The price is important to farmers but they would be looking for quality first and foremost and the steel would have to be right. We would shot blast it and put several coats of paint on as standard. There would be 80 microns of paint on the steel before it leaves our yard and we use zinc phosphate, which is the best at preventing rust. It’s long-lasting and it stays clean.
“On all of our steel, we try to put in the best stuff and to do it at the right price. To be fair, our prices would be as keen as anyone out there. We can accommodate farmers within their price bracket and our steel is also finished to a very high spec. Our customers get the best of both worlds: a better product at a competitive price.”
The fact that Steel Fab Construction has been providing customers with high-quality solutions for 24 years speaks for itself. “It hasn’t all been plain sailing,” Robert concedes. “There were a few quiet years when it was a struggle to keep things moving but we kept at it. The agricultural sector has been very busy again this year and we would have a lot of work in front of us. For example, we’re going to be doing a big job for Wayne Acheson at Omagh Meats and we’ll also do the groundworks on that as it’s a local job.”
Looking to the future, Robert is targeting further expansion: “As the agricultural market opens up again and orders for sheds increase, we are trying to gear ourselves up for that. We are hoping to grow again next year and to take on more men. We are also ready for further industrial work as it starts to pick up again.
“If the orders come in, we are in a position to turn over a large volume of buildings. When a customer contacts us, we will give them a date and we will stick to that date. We don’t mess anyone around.
“We can also supply galvanised structural steel if they want that – it’s particularly popular with customers in coastal areas. Basically, anything the customer wants, we can supply it. The wide clear span buildings of up to 40 metres are a very unique area and one we specialise in.”
Steel Fab Construction,
Lisnaskea Road,
Brookeborough,
County Fermanagh,
BT94 4EX.
Tel: 028 89531254
Fax: 028 89531117
Email: [email protected]
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 2 No 6, November 2014
