Steely determination from Galway start-up Vision-Built
Emerging from the rubble of the property market collapse, Galway start-up Vision-Built is now exporting light-gauge steel structures for hotels, apartment complexes and housing developments to the UK.
Winner of this year’s National Enterprise Export award, the company has been operating since 2013 and now employs 25 staff in Ireland and five in the UK.
Company co-founder and managing director Gerry McCarthy sees huge opportunities in the recovering UK housing market and expects to double turnover this year.
Since setting up two years ago, Vision-Built has provided light-gauge steel frame structures for UK customers which have included hotel chains Premier Inn and Travelodge, as well as developers Heritage Developments, R&G Carter and Young Homes.
“One of our biggest achievements in recent times has been the construction of an 80-bed Premier Inn in Great Yarmouth which was completed from start to finish in just eight weeks.
“One of our biggest projects has been a 210-bed four- star hotel in London,” said Mr McCarthy.
With 25 years’ experience in construction, he had previously set up Dryform, a company which produced light-gauge steel structures for the Irish and UK market.
“At the height of the boom this company manufactured and installed 500 units a year, employing a direct staff of 130 and teams of subcontractors,” he said.
Although Dryform closed in the crash, he saw new opportunities when the UK building sector picked up in 2012. Two of his previous customers — UK developers Andrew Howard and Matt Bartram — got in contact about setting up a new company to supply them with light-gauge steel structures.
Mr Howard and Mr Bartram funded and became directors of Vision-Built, which received support from the Galway Local Enterprise Office.
“We set up at Oranmore in February 2013 with a staff of two — taking on staff as we needed them and by August we had eight,’’ said Mr McCarthy. In the first year he supplied structures for residential developments to his partner’s development companies.
According to Mr McCarthy, the key advantages of using light-gauge steel structures are that they quicken the speed of build and provide energy-efficient ways to insulate homes.
The structures produced at Vision-Built include wall panels and floor and roof components which are assembled off site.
Once the structures are installed on site, builders add an external layer of bricks or cladding and an internal finish.
Having begun in 2013 with a ready-made market, Mr McCarthy started seeking out new customers. He secured his first external order from a Norwich developer.
Last summer, Vision-Built secured a contract for a hotel extension project in London. It has since also worked on a number of residential projects, including a 39-unit development in Norwich.
The company now has a number of orders in the pipeline and is in discussions with a large UK housing association about the construction of 700 units over three years. It is also in the early design stage on a project involving a development at a school.
It is focusing on the UK, and on London, in particular. Housing projects now account for 70% of his business, and hotel projects account for the rest. Mr McCarthy sees a big opportunity in hotel building. He says the UK needs 1,500 new hotel bedrooms. Since 2014, Vision-Built has operated a sales and design office in Norwich.
Set up to supply the UK market, the company has completed three projects in Ireland, including a hotel extension in Dublin and what he describes as a “super house” in Connemara.
With almost all the business focused on overseas, “when the Irish market picks up, we will be here ready to fill the need,’’ he said.
Mr McCarthy is optimistic about continued growth from the UK which he expects to continue to expand for five years.
To meet new orders, he believes Vision-Built will need to hire five or six more staff this year. Celebrating the National Enterprise Export Award, which the company won in June, Mr McCarthy said the recognition has given Vision-Built a big boost.
“It’s recognition that we have done what we set out to do — create jobs and develop exports — which is what the country needs.”
