Kelly & Son Glen Construction Ltd offers its clients a variety of building services including new builds, commercial and conservation works in addition to extensions, renovations and refurbishments. Building Ireland touched based with Managing Director Darren Kelly to learn more about the company.
Business has been “very good” lately at Kelly & Son Glen Construction according to its MD Darren Kelly and the plan for the Co Donegal native is to try and keep things that way right through 2021.
Operating with 10 full-time staff, the company was founded in 1987 by Darren’s father Hugh Kelly and has established a reputation which is second to none in the north Donegal area.
Kelly & Son Glen Construction has worked on projects all throughout the north of the Tir Chonaill County – from Downings to Falcarragh, Letterkenny to Fanad and everywhere in between.
Building Ireland caught up with Darren Kelly recently to find out more about the company – from its origins to how business has been going in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We’re based in Carrigart, Letterkenny, Co Donegal and my dad would have started things up here as a sole trader back in 1979,” he outlined.
“In 1987, we became a limited company and I would have gone full-time in the business 25 years ago.
“I eventually took over from my father and my wife Mary is also a company Director and is in charge of accounts.”
Darren’s first involvement in the family business came more than three decades ago when he started working with his father part-time during the summers at the age of 12.
By the time he was 20, Darren was working on a full-time basis with the company and fast-forward a quarter of a century later and he’s now in the driving-seat as Managing Director.
Today, Kelly & Son Glen Construction continues to grow based on the same values it originally started with and those are delivering quality and competitiveness for its clients.
As a medium sized construction business, it offers a variety of building services which include new builds, commercial and conservation works in addition to extensions, renovations and refurbishments.
Projects tend to vary for Darren and his team, with renovations and one-off houses very much the company’s forte.
“We carry out jobs for clients as small as a bathroom to renovations to one-off houses,” explained the Managing Director.
“Generally, we wouldn’t start two houses together at the same time and like to space them out a month or so at a time and we’d be using the same subcontractors on each project as well.”
Kelly & Son Glen Construction is a registered member of Homebond, the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) and CIRI and complies with all Irish construction health and safety regulations.
Combining quality craftsmanship and cutting-edge building techniques, the Co Donegal construction firm operates with a network of highly skilled sub-contractors, suppliers and consultants ensuring that it can scale up and down as needed.
As of right now, its books are full up until next January, according to Darren. “Business is very good at the minute,” he stated.
“After the first lockdown in March last year was lifted, we were extremely busy and we’re booked up now for the rest of 2021.
“Right now, we’re in another lockdown and all but essential construction is shut down. So, there’s no real point in taking men out because the sub-contractors aren’t working at the moment either.”
At the start of 2021, the Irish government’s Level 5 lockdown meant that non-essential construction projects were shut down nationwide.
When we spoke to Darren, there had been no change in the restrictions’ status and he and his team were patiently waiting to get back on the sites and do what they do best.
“We have homes sitting at different stages at the moment,” he said.
“We have a house in Rathmullan that’s ready for plastering and then there’s another three or four there to start once we get back.
“We’d do a lot of work around the Letterkenny area and the rest of north Donegal and the work that we get would be all through word of mouth from clients, really.”
Indeed, it has been a policy of the company’s not so much to advertise, but let the work that they do speak for itself.
Kelly & Son Glen Construction has always prided itself on its quality of work, the service they provide and the relationships they build.
So, what has been the secret to success for the company these past 34 years?
For Darren, it comes down to two things in particular which have been a common denominator within the company since back when his father was getting it off the ground.
“I think it’s because of the service and the quality of work that we do to be honest,” he said.
“Clients could ring me five years down the line after doing a job for them and have something else they want done.
“So, repeat business with clients is a part of it and hopefully we can continue to gain that as we go on here.”
Looking towards the coming months, Darren hopes that his company can continue to stay busy in the
same vein which they have been the past year or so, and that the entire situation with regards to the pandemic can improve overall with vaccines now being rolled out worldwide.
“Really we just want to carry on with the service that we’re providing and try to stay busy.
“As I said, we’re booked up now for 2021 with the projects we have ahead of us, so we just want to keep going like we have been,” he concluded.
Kelly & Son Glen Construction
3 Gortnabrade, Carrigart, Letterkenny, Co Donegal
Mobile: 086 798 3669
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.kellysonglenconstruction.com
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, May, Vol 7 No 5
