FORMED IN 1973 in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, McAvoy Off-Site Building Solutions specialise in off-site construction, manufacturing steel and timber framed modular buildings. A family business, Orla Corr was appointed managing director in 2000.
She recalls how the business began in humble circumstances, her grandfather's farmyard near Coalisland in Co Tyrone, where her father converted a barn into a small manufacturing facility when he saw a market opportunity for timber-framed portable buildings arising from a growing demand for fast-track nursery and school accommodation. Since Orla's appointment as managing director in 2000 the annual turnover has increased 10-fold to £35 million (€44 million) and 70 per cent of sales are now outside Northern Ireland from a zero base. The company is working with markets in the Republic of Ireland, the Middle East, Scandinavia, West Africa, Eastern Europe and the Caribbean. McAvoy Off-Site is now the largest off-site manufacturer of buildings in Ireland and fourth in Britain. Two modern factories have been developed at Dungannon and Lisburn - the most modern in their industry in the UK and Ireland, and use the latest digital manufacturing techniques, with depots established in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Sligo and Windsor. In the past eight years the company's employment has grown from 60 to 300.
Products/Services:
The product portfolio has developed from portable cabins to complex modular buildings; antivandal and multi-space units and the design, manufacture and installation of bathroom and bedroom pods. Services have been developed in areas such as building design, quantity surveying, interior completion including mechanical and electrical engineering and landscaping.
Customers:
The company serves three industry types. Public sector buildings such as hospitals (Royal Victoria, Ulster, Craigavon and Altnagelvin hospitals in Northern Ireland and St Vincent's and St Loman's hospitals in the Republic), schools, colleges, clinics, nursery schools and government offices such as the Department for the Environment in Northern Ireland.
It also caters for companies in the private sector including the departure gates and services buildings at Dublin International Airport, hotels such as the Ramada Group, hostels, banks and other corporate buildings. McAvoy Off-Site Building Solutions also supply leisure and sporting events - portable accommodation for events such as the NW 200 motorcycle races, London Marathon and Glastonbury Rock Festival.
Q&A: Orla Corr
What vision prompted you to start up in business?
I didn't start the business, my parents did, but I saw an opportunity to build on their success by developing a value-added product combined with a robust sales strategy that would move it to the next level. My experience as an accountant working with several companies, large and small, helped me to develop this strategy with financial sense.
What role has CSR played in your business strategy?
We have a clearly defined environmental strategy and policy and a commitment to community engagement. All waste is segmented for recycling and re-use and to reduce landfill. We also invest heavily in training our people through links with colleges and in-house education courses.
What is the best piece of business advice you ever received?
I've been guided by two maxims - if at first you don't succeed, try, try again, and success doesn't always go to the strongest but to those who adapt best. I've a great will to win and have always been ready to adapt to circumstances and opportunities.
