Michael Fitzpatrick Construction has been operating from Blacklion in Co Cavan for more than 40 years now, as a plant hire and construction company. Irish Tractor & Agri heard more from Peter Fitzpatrick, who is one of three men currently running the family business.
As summer is coming to a close, Michael Fitzpatrick Construction is in the middle of another busy season out west Cavan way.
The company have been operating from Blacklion since the 1970’s when Michael started the business with a JCB3C that he bought second hand as a non-runner with the engine dismantled in bits. He fixed the engine and got it going and from this started a thriving business. Initially Michael started out solely as a plant hire company hiring to local farmers and county councils. However since then they have progressed onto civil engineering and building contracting, undertaking complete construction projects from beginning to end.
Situated in the small village of Blacklion, Michael Fitzpatrick and his two sons Peter and Kevin operate a lean and efficient building company together and their reputation for building to high standards precedes them. Their client base includes public authorities, County Councils, voluntary organisations, as well as commercial and private residential clients.
Peter was good enough to take time from what has become an increasingly busy schedule as of late to tell about all aspects of the business recently.
“Myself and Kevin have been working with our father since we could walk and have grown up with the business. We now both work full time together with Michael and I feel that because it’s a family business we have an added strength that gets us through when the going gets tough. We’ve roughly 10 staff and also a base of reliable sub-contractors that we use.”
“We offer plenty of different services for our customers including plant hire, groundwork, land drainage, foundations, concreting and general building construction. When it comes to our services we supply trained, friendly and knowledgeable staff”, Peter explained.
The business has a fully maintained, modern fleet of plant and equipment for hire which the Fitzpatricks update constantly. Excavators are available in sizes from 1 tonne to 20 tonne, tractors with dump trailers, site dumpers and JCB 3CXs are also available. All the machinery for hire at Michael Fitzpatrick Construction comes with trained operators and the firm supplies machinery for both large and small projects. Self-drive hire is also an option. For a detailed list of machinery and plant for hire be sure to check out the company’s website – builderplanthire.ie.
“Plant Hire is very much the first thing for us here. We have everything here from mini-diggers to 20-tonnes and JCBs,” Peter explained.
“We do contracting, ground works and civil engineering. We work with local authorities on road works and footpaths and we do commercial building contracting work as well. We also offer a concrete shuttering and formwork service and construct slatted tanks and silage pits to grant specification.”
As Peter outlined, repeat business from customers has been a crucial factor to the company’s success down through the decades.
“We get a lot of repeat business and I feel this is because we always offer a quality service and complete work to a high standard” said Peter.
“We cover counties Cavan, Leitrim, Fermanagh, Sligo and also parts of Meath. Cavan County Council would be a main client of ours with machinery hire, road and footpath construction, drainage and hedge-cutting.”
He added: “Business is not bad at all at the minute. We have been very busy all summer and the good weather has added to this with a lot of farmers doing land drainage and works that they couldn’t do in the last few years.”
Where possible, the Fitzpatricks endeavour to operate with minimum inconvenience to the surroundings, whilst adopting health and safety regulations to keep both the clients and staff safe for the duration of the project.
So what makes the company’s clientele choose them first ahead of other competitors out there?
“The fact that we have a reputation for doing good quality work is the main reason,” Peter stated. “We have also increasingly found that people want contractors who can offer a complete service. We can bring a project from design to completion and this takes the stress and worry out of the job for the client.”
So whether it’s building contracting (commercial or residential), groundwork, concreting, plant hire, land drainage or just machinery you’re looking for, be sure to get in touch with the good people at Michael Fitzpatrick Construction today.
Michael Fitzpatrick Construction Ltd
Toam,
Blacklion,
Co Cavan
Tel : 00 353 719 853023
Fax : 00 353 719 853898
Mobile : 00 353 872594815
Email: [email protected]
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 6 No 6, September/October 2018
Michael Fitzpatrick Construction
