Soaring global demand for project managers, engineers
Sean McGrath, managing director of Apex Global Resources.
Apex Global Resources, a Cork-based recruitment company, is optimistic for 2024 after a successful 2023 — while keeping an eye on the challenges the sector is facing.
Headquartered in Ringaskiddy, its core business is providing staffing solutions to the construction and pharmaceutical sectors. Apex is looking forward to continuing to work with its current customer base in Ireland and mainland Europe, as well as exploring new opportunities for diversification of both its recruitment offering and the areas it operates in.
All-Ireland medallist in 1999, Sean McGrath is managing director of Apex Global Resources — he and Donal Moynihan, director of recruitment, took over the then Scottish-based business three years ago. Apex then employed three permanent staff but McGrath and Moynihan have expanded to a very successful operation employing ten staff in Cork and one in the original office in Scotland.
“We were very lucky that when we acquired the business, the customer base stayed with us,” says McGrath. “We’ve grown those relationships out and while we have added to our portfolio and diversified somewhat in our offering, those customers continue to be the lifeblood of the organisation.”
Combined with its Irish business, Apex now has ongoing projects in Denmark, Sweden and the UK which will continue into 2024, while it also tendered for work in Finland and Germany recently.
Apex has faced the same challenges many recruitment firms experienced in 2023. As McGrath points out, a shortage of labour in the Irish market led the company to explore the relocation of skilled labour from other EU countries. And while this was successful, the lack of available housing in Ireland has proved challenging in scaling this to the level it is aiming for.
“While our immediate outlook is very strong for 2024, we’re acutely aware of the need to diversify both in our recruitment offerings and geographical locations. This will help us future-proof our business further.
"This year, we hired recruiters specifically to focus on the permanent staffing requirements of our customer base — project managers, engineers, quantity surveyors and so on. That has been very successful and we look forward to expanding this further in the coming year.”
McGrath’s background is in engineering while Moynihan has a wealth of experience in the recruitment sector. It’s a winning combination with McGrath reporting that they were happy with the performance in 2023, despite the challenges faced.
“Coming from that engineering background, I have an appreciation of project deadlines and the reliance on skilled labour to ensure project milestones are being hit. That overall understanding of how our recruitment model ties in with our customer success is hugely beneficial, I think.
“In a previous life, I’ve been on the other side of the fence, delivering as a contractor, and I think that understanding and knowledge has helped in our service delivery. Donal obviously is vastly experienced in delivering all types and scales of recruitment projects, both locally and abroad, and we have built a very strong team here in Cork. We’re optimistic that we’ll be able to add to it again in 2024 and beyond.”
With growth expected, will Apex open offices in Denmark and Sweden where it currently has placed workers?
“We’ll look at demand in any given location and make a business decision based on that,” says McGrath.
“It has been a difficult year for many sectors; that has to be acknowledged. While we’re very optimistic for 2024, we’ll be cautious in our decision-making also.”
It’s an exciting time for this expanding recruitment company and as McGrath assists John Meyler with next year’s Cork minor hurlers, it will be a busy 2024.
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