CONTRACTOR PROFILE // RD ELECTRICAL COMPANY: RD Electrical BASED: Lurgan, Northern Ireland FOUNDED: 2003 MAJOR PROJECTS: Quays Shopping Centre, Newry; Stormont Parliament; Boots The Chemist STAFF NUMBERS: 8
Home from home Northern Irish business RD Electrical has built up a strong base serving the domestic market and retail sector, all from the comforts of a log cabin in the garden. But with the business continuing to grow, change may be on the cards By Nick Martindale
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estled away in the garden of a private house in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, is a rather impressive log cabin. Far from a tranquil place for family relaxation, however, this is the home of RD Electrical, and has operated as the company’s base since the business was first set up in 2003. “I served my apprenticeship with a local firm in the Lurgan area and then I went to Australia for a year and decided that when I got back I was going to start my own company,” says founder Raymond Daly. “I was 20 years old when I got back and I bought myself a van and started doing small jobs around the town and it’s just progressed to where we are now.” Initially the focus was on domestic jobs, he says, but has since spread into the commercial sector, taking on work on newbuild housing projects and shop fitouts. “I worked in the company on my own for about a year and then employed another electrician, and as the company developed I needed more help,” he says. “So after year one I employed someone and then another one the next, and the same year on year after that.”
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The initial idea of working in the log cabin was to keep costs down, says Raymond; something which came very handy when the economic downturn – which hit Northern Ireland particularly hard – struck. “It meant our overheads were kept low so we could then keep our prices low and compete even through the downturn,” he says. “Prices dropped, but because we didn’t have any overheads or rates to pay we were in a position to act in line with the market.” Jumping on the energy efficiency bandwagon also helped. “We set up our energy auditing service where we would go out to clients’ premises and see where they could save costs,” he says. “A big part of that would be LED lighting and that basically kept us going for three or four years, and it’s still going strong. Around 30-40 per cent of our work is in energy efficiency.” One recent example was the Quays Shopping Centre in Newry, where the company undertook a full LED lighting upgrade in the shopping centre and the external car park over a two-year period. Record-breaker Today the business is on course to hit the £1 million turnover mark for the first time, having grown around 30 per cent in the past 12 months, and typically takes on contracts worth between £5,000 and £100,000, serving the whole
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