Based outside of Limavady, Co Derry, Hogg Engineering Ltd manufactures high quality agricultural trailers for its clients worldwide. Irish Tractor & Agri touched base with one of the company’s co-founders David Hogg to learn more about what is very much a thriving business.
Business is good right now at Hogg Engineering Ltd and the plan for brothers David, Michael and Shea Hogg is to try and keep things that way right through 2021.
Now into its third year, the family-run business situated at Countryview Business Park outside of Claudy, Co Derry was born out of the brothers’ 40-plus years combined work experience in welding, fabrication and agricultural industries.
All three men are co-founders of the business and pride themselves on the quality of product which their company produces week in, week out.
Irish Tractor & Agri caught up with David Hogg to find out the ins and outs of the company – from its origins to the state of business today.
“Myself and my two brothers Michael and Shea are co-founders and right now we have 15 staff,” David outlined.
“It’s our third year now and last year was a massive year for us, so hopefully that will continue and we can keep on growing like we have been.”
Since ‘Day One’, Hogg Engineering has manufactured heavy duty and exceptionally reliable trailers by using only the highest quality components and engineering processes throughout production.
The company has enjoyed an exceptionally quick rise since its inception in 2019, with its trailers having been sold and shipped worldwide to countries such as Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Holland and some even going all the way to New Zealand to date.
It had been the vision for the Hogg clan in Claudy when they first set-up their business venture, although shipping their products to the other side of the globe may not have been in the original designs.
“I suppose you could say we specialise in agricultural engineering, doing everything from tipper to slurry nurses,” said David.
“We just try to build a quality product every time and try and make sure that they are to the customers’ needs.”
It’s all a far cry from where David started out in this line of work back in his teenage years.
Having gained the necessary experience, he and his brothers took the decision to go out on their own with Hogg Engineering and, thus far, things have very much gone according to script for the trio.
“When I was 17, I worked for a company that was one of the main dump trailer manufacturers in Ireland,” outlined David.
“I worked for them for quite a number of years. I suppose I stepped back then and, along with my brothers, I saw a niche in the market and we set-up then in 2019.”
While getting off the ground in the first few months wasn’t easy, David explained that the company enjoyed a breakout year in 2020 and have been endeavouring to keep up with customer demand ever since.
“It took a little while to get off the ground because it was slow getting your name out there, but 2020 was a massive year for us,” he said.
“We switched premises and started investing more and more into upgrading our machinery and our paint shop here.
“We’re an environmentally friendly company, we use a wind turbine here and it’s all renewable energy.”
Still practically in its infancy, Hogg Engineering’s second year wasn’t without its challenges.
The Covid-19 pandemic has had its effect on businesses throughout the country and Hogg Engineering were no different as they were forced to close last year for a stint.
“We were lucky enough with it, to be honest,” said David. “We adhered to all the rules but one of the lads here did test positive for Covid-19, so we had to shut down for a period.
“Thankfully, he recovered and no one else was affected and we’re back up and running since.”
Along with making the move into their new premises last year, Hogg Engineering also expanded its range of trailers with varying specifications on offer to customers including low loader trailers, multipurpose tipping trailers, livestock trailers, hydraulic beaver tail trailers, bale trailers and slurry nurse trailers.
They will soon be adding dump and silage trailers to their range of heavy duty agricultural trailers in Claudy.
So, what has been the secret to success thus far?
How has a company barely three years old managed to build such a solid reputation in such a short space of time to the point where its products are being shipped halfway across the world.
“I think we build a quality product every time at a good price,” the co-founder put it plainly.
“You’ve three brothers with more than 40 years’ experience between them to watch every single build along the way.
“All of our work is done inhouse, nobody else has anything to do with it and to date we have sold and shipped to Sweden, France, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Holland, New Zealand and Argentina.”
You can expect that list of countries to increase too, as the company’s trailers seem to be growing in popularity with each passing month.
Looking towards the coming months, David himself hopes that the current trend of growth can continue for Hogg Engineering as it gets set to unveil its latest design to customers.
“We’ve a brand-new dump trailer and design in the works now at the moment,” he said.
“We are looking forward to the Ploughing Championships hopefully going ahead this year. Fingers crossed that they will and hopefully we can show people at it what we can do.”
If you’re interested in purchasing a Hogg Engineering trailer you can contact the company directly (details below) to place an order. Alternatively, contact your local dealer to find out what trailers they currently have in stock.
Hogg Engineering Ltd
Countryview Business Park
140 Muldonagh Road,
Claudy
Co Derry
BT47 4EJ
Tel: +447719979045
Web: hoggengineeringltd.com
E-mail: [email protected]
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 9 No 3, May/June 2021
