Based in Ballyshane, Co Kilkenny, Shay Malone Horizon Plant Ltd offers its clients a full range of services when it comes to plant hire. Irish Tractor & Agri heard more from the man himself recently about the company which recently marked 20 years in business.
These are busy times at Shay Malone Horizon Hire and the plan for the Kilkenny-based business is to continue keeping up with the current demand from clients throughout the south east.
The company specialises in site excavations, farm roadways, slatted houses, land drainage, rock breaking, site clearance, site development, ground works, pipe laying and demolition.
Both VAT registered and C2 certified, Shay Malone Plant Hire employs two full-time staff and has earned a glowing reputation over the past two decades for providing a professional and quality service.
Shay’s working background had very much been in Plant Hire and construction before he took the decision to set-up his own quarry in Castlegannon five years ago.
He’d built up the experience necessary to immerse himself into eventually running a venture which supplies certified stone nationwide.
Having built the company from ground up, Shay now has a team of two full-time staff and the business itself has earned a reputation for quality amongst clients for each service it provides.
“The Plant Hire business is going 20 years now and we’ve two working here, including a brother of mine,” explained Shay.
“We’d carry out work on all types of roadways, garden landscaping, land drainage (they have a vibrating ripper), rock-breaking and will crush on site as well if needs be as well.”
It’s a far cry from when Shay first started out in the business, having travelled to the UK and come back before eventually taking the decision to go out on his own.
The Co Kilkenny native gained experience across the Channel that left him keen to set-up his own business venture and, at the turn of the millennium, he did exactly that.
“I was working in England for a few years before I came home and decided to set-up the Plant Hire business,” he said.
“When I came home I started working for a Plant Hire business straight away and just said I’d give it a go.”
Two decades later, and Shay Malone Horizon Plant has earned a glowing reputation around the south east for its excellent work.
Last year saw business booming and the first handful of weeks in 2020 have followed suit, according to Shay.
“Business at the moment is not too bad. 2019 was very busy in particular with civil engineering work and hopefully that will continue this year,” he said.
“We invested in a bit of equipment last summer and will hopefully be investing in some more again this year to keep up with the demand.”
He added: “We’d have a lot of repeat business with the same clients. We have a number of regular customers who have been with us a long time now and we’d be working closely with them over the years.”
So what has been the secret to success? How has Shay Malone Horizon Plant managed to stand the test of time and now find itself thriving an even two decades later?
For the man himself, consistent quality and competitive pricing has a lot to do with the success to date.
“We provide a good service to our clients and that service comes at a keen rate, which is important in this line of work as well,” he said.
“You have to stay competitive and think that’s something we’ve always tried to do here since ‘Day One’.”
Another way of staying competitive in the Plant Hire business is to upgrade your machinery fleet on a regular basis.
With a quarry also set to re-open this year, Shay has ensured that the right machinery is at the company’s disposal so as the demand from clients are always met.
“We brought a new CASE CX 210D excavator last May and a 6215R John Deere in August and they’ve been going well for us since,” he said.
“As for Castlegannonits open five years now and we supply all types of stone to farmers and construction companies.”
All things considered, 2020 looks like being another busy year for Shay Malone Horizon Plant and the plan, as always, is to meet the demand from clientele.
It’s founder and proprietor concluded: “Hopefully business will be as good as it was last year. So far it has started off well, so we can’t complain.
“We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers, staff, hauliers, workers and anyone involved in the quarry, for their support over the last five years and anyone who helped making the quarry a success.”
Shay Malone Horizon Plant Ltd
Ballyshane,
Inistioge,
Co. Kilkenny
Mobile: 087 275 8563
E-mail: [email protected]
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 8 No 2, Summer 2020
