Eamon McGoldrick is one of Ardmac’s Contracts Managers for the Fitout division and has worked with us for forty – yes forty – years! Eamon is an invaluable asset to Ardmac. His incredible length of service started off with him “serving time” as a carpenter and gradually progressing to become a contracts manager, which he has been excelling at for twenty years now.
Known for his open and honest nature, Eamon has worked on some really tricky projects for Ardmac including Tallaght Cross West, Dunnes St Stephen’s Green, Ulster Bank Georges Quay and the Royal College of Surgeons. Eamon appreciates the importance of listening and responding to the needs of his clients, consistently exceeding their expectations.
He spends roughly 80-90% of his week onsite, where his role includes liaising with the design team, organising site managers and project managers, looking after variations, and making sure everything gets tracked and reported on.
We asked Eamon what he enjoyed most about working at Ardmac and he had this to say:
“I get huge satisfaction from the challenge of pulling a team together and then physically delivering a project from start to finish. I love the sense of pride I get when I look back and see what we have accomplished.”
He continues, “I enjoy working with the team, getting to know everyone, the camaraderie between us, it’s a great variety and you always learn something from every job.”
Eamon has literally grown up with Ardmac and has seen monumental change over the years from being a small handful of people to an international organisation with multiple sites and a turnover of over €200 million. But at the heart of it Eamon says that the business has always had the exact same ethos.
“Ardmac have always looked after people. It’s a very open company, if you have an issue, you ask for help and they will always help you.”
Over 40 years, Eamon has not only seen how Ardmac has changed as a company, but also how the industry has changed. In particular with reference to health and safety, he believes that Ardmac are one of the first in the industry to fully embrace ‘Safety First’ in everything they do and the rest of the industry has slowly followed suit. He recalls the beginning of his career when people on site didn’t wear PPE, glasses, boots etc but thankfully that is no longer the case.
Another industry change Eamon has seen, and potentially not for the better, is the reduction in the number of tradesmen and apprentices. The industry needs to address the gap that exists with labour workers. The CIF confirmed that 86% of Ireland’s building companies have an inadequate supply of qualified tradespeople. Given the growth of the construction industry and future plans, significant investment in the education, training and apprenticeship system is required to move forward.
At Ardmac we believe in having a positive culture that supports our employees and their families. We want our people to enjoy what they do for us, like Eamon does. Only then can we ensure a strong work ethic, with open lines of communication that breeds a culture of safety and productivity.
