Products & Services

Expanding accEss - mast climber & hoist growth in ireland

The Irish family-owned business, Brogan Group have been at the forefront of re-introducing mast climber and hoist access solutions to the Irish market in recent years with significant take-off over the last eighteen months, utilising their extensive experience in powered access, combined with traditional scaffolding solutions on some of the largest construction projects in the UK and UAE.

Mast climbers are fast becoming clients’ preferred method of access and clients are recognising the efficiency benefits offered over conventional scaffolding access.

The group’s experience in designing, installing and maintaining mast climbers is now evident in Ireland on several largescale developments in Dublin.

Working

Currently, Brogan Group are working on the Charlestown development, a scheme consisting of six residential blocks housing 374 apartments in Finglas for John Paul Construction.

This project, one of the largest mast climber projects in Ireland, sees Brogan Group install over eighty drive units, (an investment of over €2.5m) on the €75m development.

Hoists have also become more prevalent in Ireland, with clients appreciating the cost and production benefits when transporting materials and personnel.

These trends, along with solid client relationships and a track record for scale, expertise, reliability and quality have once again led to high demand for Brogan’s specialist capabilities and technical prowess, backed by a mighty fleet of new and almost new machines and equipment.

Fleet

Their fleet of machines includes goods only, goods / personnel hoists and Transport Platforms ranging from 1500kg capacity through to the Colossus 4000kg hoists.

With its international presence and huge plant resources, the company can match project requirements on the largest contracts.

Key to Brogan Group’s success is the quality of machines, with a good age profile, along with the dedicated support from the servicing and maintenance crew.

Brogan Group have not only invested in the latest machines, but also, the maintenance and service engineers to install and service them.

Keeping ‘down time’ to a minimum, plays a crucial part in the overall success of the project and an effective maintenance crew is essential to achieving this.

Importance

Early engagement from the Brogan Pre-Construction Team on strategy, scope and design has highlighted the importance of input on planning and design from the experts.

Digital designs, schematic drawings, calculations and loadings were provided to ensure access meets with the various trade requirements, whilst optimising production and client costs.

Brogan Group also provide traditional scaffolding, and there are distinct advantages with choosing one specialist provider from a site management perspective, with one point of contact responsible for the entire access package.

Very positive

For Brogan Group the rest of 2021 looks very positive according to Kerri Brogan:

‘We are currently building on our operations at our yard to extend capacity to support the growing mast climber and hoist business here in Ireland, along with our growing workforce.

‘On completion of the project, we will have improved capabilities to service mast climber and hoist maintenance as well as fabrication for bespoke site applications.

‘This will provide us with a strong backbone to continue our growth and fulfil demand in the burgeoning market for powered access here in Ireland.’

Find out more about the benefits of mast climbers. https://www. brogangroup.com/ie/ services/mast-climbers/ s1841/

‘Cash is King’ in pandemiC times

Cash is king in the time of Covid-19 and the fact is it will be a key criterion by the surety market in assessing the financial strength of any company looking to obtain bonds or bonding facilities.

Viability

As we look forward to the remainder of 2021 and beyond that term is going to ring loud and true – not just for bonding requirements but for the very viability of any business in any industry.

Cash is the lifeblood of any enterprise.

First, cash is the king because it cannot be changed. You cannot lie about cash.

There are some numbers on the balance sheet or the business plan that can be manipulated to reflect opinions.

Cash is not an opinion: the amount of cash you have is written in the summary of your bank account.

Focus

Each company, especially new ventures, have to have a continuous focus on cash for two reasons.

First, it is a measure of true profitability and second it allows and supports the continuation of the company.

Ultimately, it is a critical business performance metric which determines an enterprise's long-term success.

A company may have a very high turnover but without the ability to generate cash it can easily fail.

ABOVE: Colm McGrath

Support

Currently it does not feel like we are in a recession or about to enter one because we are in a bubble of government support, that support is propping up jobs, balance sheets and cashflow.

But this is a short-term measure that cannot last. Central Bank figures show an increase of deposits by c.€14bn in savings deposits by the end of 2020.

While consumers have not been able to spend money in the short-term due to lockdown there is no indication of a spending spree as restrictions are lifted later in the year, indicators are that consumer confidence is low and are preparing for a couple of tough years with uncertainty around employment.

All levels

This feeds through to all levels of businesses, for consumers less eating out, less going to the cinema, will I or won’t I buy a house, upgrade my car etc.

From a business perspective they will hold back on investment for growth and may even contract in order to survive.

However, this can be a precarious time for companies as Government stimulus plans are reduced over the next six to twelve months or so, for those that have not managed cash or built up a cash surplus stimulus withdrawal or any other economic surprise maybe a shock too far.

Uncertainty

All in all, uncertainty in 2021 is still abound, the pandemic has not gone away and may take more protracted containment measures further stalling growth until vaccines are fully rolled out.

Brexit, the EU-UK trade agreement while a very positive result the impact on our economy has yet to be fully realised.

Finally, the possibility of financial market stress, doubtful in 2021 but cannot be discounted if there are any unforeseen global shocks 2022 or beyond.

Advice

The best advice I can give at this juncture is to make sure you prioritise the importance of cash.

For a business, its availability is essential to not only avoid the possibility of bankruptcy, but also to take advantage of various expansion and growth opportunities which are sure to arise.

Colm McGrath – managing director, Surety Bonds