A SUIR THING
Suir Engineering CEO John Kelly talks to ICIM about inheriting a strong team, investing in the future and the value of apprenticeships as a route to industry
This year, Suir Engineering is celebrating 40 years in business and already, 2024 is shaping up to be one of the strongest ever years for the Waterford-based company. In 2023, Suir reported a turnover of €429 million, representing 41% year over year growth. CEO John Kelly also confirmed that the company improved its liquidity base over the past 12 months and operated profitably, achieving an EBITDA of 5%. Although the firm has an international footprint that extends beyond Ireland to Sweden, Denmark, Germany and more recently, the UK and Finland, Ireland remains a crucial market, with clients that span various sectors including pharmaceutical, life sciences, data centres and energy power & renewables (EP&R).
Liverpool born John Kelly attributes the company’s success to the trust that’s been built with clients and the quality of its people. “I took on the CEO role in 2023 and was lucky enough to inherit a really strong, talented team. Over the years, Suir has worked hard to build and maintain excellent relationships and it’s the trust that has been fostered with clients that has led to repeat business and growth. We’re also working in sectors that are constantly evolving and growing. Although we’ve operated in EP&R for over 20 years, it’s a sector that has quadrupled in size in the last six years. Now, it’s a division that’s generating €120 million per year and we’re carrying out groundbreaking electrical power projects across the UK and Ireland. In the past five years or so, we’ve also increased our presence in the data centre space.” With experts forecasting global investment in hydrogen over the next decade, Suir wants to be to the forefront of this sector too. “We’ll be carrying out R&D around new renewables to ensure our offering remains current.”
Celebrating his own anniversary at Suir Engineering, John joined as CEO one year ago. His career in construction began as an apprentice quantity surveyor, before obtaining a degree in quantity surveying and working as a chartered surveyor, a chartered construction manager and builder. His career spans roles at Crown House in the UK, Imtech Solutions, Taylor Wimpey, Laing O’Rourke, Mercury Engineering and NG Bailey. “Taking on the CEO role at Suir seemed like a natural next step. I was familiar with the business having worked at Imtech [Suir Engineering was the Irish branch division of Imtech UK & Ireland]; it was great to come into a business with people I already knew.” Having started his career as an apprentice, John is passionate about training and is an advocate for the apprenticeship route into industry. “One of the biggest challenges we face is around skills. There’s a real shift in demographics in our industry; ensuring we bring in as many young people as possible is crucial but it’s also a real challenge. At Suir, we put a lot of investment behind training to shore up the business as much as possible and make sure it’s solid for the future.” Asked if he thinks enough is being done to encourage young people to take up apprenticeships in the construction industry, John says: “From listening to Simon Harris, I think he’s got a real passion for apprenticeships but I also believe more could be done to promote and highlight the value of apprenticeships. I don’t think people realise what a great resource they are for the industry. Many people still think you’ve got to go to university and be degree educated before you enter the workplace. Like I said, I joined the industry as an apprentice after leaving school when I was 16 years old. Today, when I look at the nine directors at Suir, four of them joined the company as apprentices. Three others were apprentices at other companies. We’ve got to do more to publicise that route to industry and highlight it as a valuable option.”
Currently Suir’s jobs sheet is full, with work ongoing at FlexGen in Westmeath, Pfizer in Dublin, Abbott in Carlow, solar farms across the country and numerous data centres across the continent. Suir is the Design and Build Contractor on the FlexGen facility, which comprises a 275MW reserve gas-fired generator, energy storage system, a synchronous condenser and Gas Insulated switchgear to support and back up the electrical grid. “FlexGen showcases our wide-ranging capabilities and the size of a project we can undertake. The data centres that we’re involved with on the continent also highlight the best of our electrical capabilities.”
Construction is, says John, a relationship driven business. “People do business with people. We strive to be an organisation that’s easy to deal with, that’s reliable and trustworthy and one that understands the cost base. To stay competitive, we constantly communicate with our clients so that we understand what their expectations are. We also try to keep our overheads as low as possible so that we don’t become overly bureaucratic. Rather than Suir acting as a large machine, our leaders within the business are given licence to be entrepreneurial so they can deliver the best possible outcomes for clients.”
A new head of sustainability role at Suir, due to be filled in the coming weeks, demonstrates the company’s commitment to ESG. Suir has held ISO 14001 accreditation since 2011 and invests significant resources into training staff so they can deliver solutions that comply with stringent sustainability standards like BREEAM and LEED. Safety is also paramount at Suir. “We’ve got excellent procedures in place. We ensure staff engagement around our safety strategy is maintained and for me, that’s what it’s all about – making sure people are fully engaged with us. We invest heavily in supervisory training programmes and in inductions and refresher courses for our apprentices throughout their four year training period.” Suir has also invested in behavioural safety programmes. “We’ve got great procedures in place, we do all the toolbox talks and we implement all the policies a high quality business should implement. What we want to do now is equip people to ensure they make the right decisions. We have invested in a programme called ‘Theatre at Work’ which is all about showing people the implications of the decisions they make. That decision might seem innocuous, but it can have a huge impact. This year, the big push is to maintain our standards around safety, but also to invest in the behavioural aspect of safety as well.”
Earlier this year, Suir was announced as the official sponsor of Waterford GAA’s county teams in both hurling and football. The new county jersey, along with all leisurewear, will carry the Suir Engineering logo as part of a three year deal to sponsor both codes at Senior, U20’s and Minor grades.
“With our head office in Waterford, it was a perfect match. We look pretty good on the shirts and it’s nice to have that visibility in the local community. I can’t say I’m an expert in hurling and Gaelic – I’m a huge Liverpool supporter – but I love the passion and the pace of the two games.”
As CEO, John’s ambitions are to grow Suir’s presence in the sectors it operates in and to expand geographically too.
“In 2023, the business was 70% Ireland and 30% overseas. We want to maintain our size in Ireland and we’re not going to do anything at the expense of that. But I would like to get to a point where we’re probably 50/50 between Ireland and international business. When we achieve that, we should end up being a business in excess of €700 million in size. We also want to make sure that we give people within the business a good career and that we’re a business that they’re proud to work for.”
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Michael McDonnell Managing Editor of Irish Construction Industry Magazine & Plan Magazine
Email: michael@irishconstruction.com WWW.MCDMEDIA.IE