Jones Engineering is investing €7 million in a new Carlow plant that will make modular buildings.
The long-established Dublin group has created 50 new jobs at the manufacturing and research facility – its first – and expects to increase employment there to 150 in the next 18 months.
"The modular building industry is replacing traditional construction, particularly in large-scale developments," chief executive Jim Curley said.
“In a sector that is often accused of being inefficient and lacking in innovation, this is an innovative solution to achieving more sustainable construction.”
The 83,000sq ft Carlow factory is manufacturing prefabricated and modular units for use in Ireland and for export to countries across Europe.
“We design and manufacture on site in Carlow and then ship completed modular or prefabricated units to the construction site,” Mr Curley said. “We are currently exporting to mainland Europe and we expect the market to continue to grow.
Skilled professionals
He said the group had chosen Carlow for the investment because of the county's "legacy of engineering and manufacturing industry, the presence of Carlow IT and the availability of the skilled professionals we require in our manufacturing process".
Jones Engineering Group says it is the largest Irish services firm in the domestic market. It also has a large presence in the Middle East, where it has offices in Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
The company, which focuses on large-scale infrastructure projects in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, IT and data centre industries, says that close to half its €443 million in revenues last year was generated overseas.
Turnover jumped almost 40 per cent in 2018, delivering a profit after tax and amortisation of goodwill of €30 million.
Mr Curley anticipates continued growth in 2019. “This current year has seen Jones Engineering Group secure a number of significant projects and we anticipate that turnover will be in the region of €650 million.”
That would mean revenue has more than doubled in just two years.
