Pictured above is Garret Murphy, Managing Director Rockwell Engineering. Picture: Sean Curtin
Commercial Partnership – Rockwell Engineering
Among all the mechanical contractors in Ireland, few are undergoing the rapid growth that Rockwell Engineering are experiencing. Rockwell have grown steadily in size over the last two to three years, but this growth is seen as a springboard for expansion, and they plan to grow to €100m in the next five years.
The Rockwell evolution stems from leadership transition, as long time Managing Director Martin Conheady hands over control to his successor, Garret Murphy.
Garret brings over 20 years’ experience to Rockwell, having worked on large-scale construction programs for national, multi-national, and semi-state organisations.
Garret’s appointment is not the only addition to Rockwell’s senior leadership. Also joining is Conor Hennessy, who is Rockwell’s inaugural Director of Strategic Growth and Sean Little as Director of Operations.
“Conor and Sean coming on board and occupying arguably the company’s two key positions is massive. Its ensured Rockwell has the structure as well as the capacity for growth.”
Garret Murphy on Rockwell’s new senior leadership
Now under new leadership, Rockwell refocused and began to identify goals for the future that reflected the skills and potential of the people that make up the organisation.
With a current turnover of approximately €40 million, Rockwell have earmarked a target of €100 million in turnover by 2030.
Rockwell fosters a unique culture of loyalty among its personnel. With 25 employees in a variety of roles who have been with the company for 10 or more years and an astonishing 10 further employees who are with the company over 25 years, a remarkable outlying figure to the industry norm.
Rockwell directly employs skilled professionals that contribute to the company’s in-house design and manufacturing capacities.
“Rockwell has tremendous in-house ability and capacity to carry out every phase of a project’s life cycle” Garret outlines. “Our skilled and experienced in-house design team are adept at co-ordinating through Building Information Modelling.
This aspect feeds directly into our onsite manufacturing workshop, staffed with Rockwell’s own metal fabrication and pipework experts. With this range of abilities, the client and end users’ expectations have always been achieved and often been exceeded.”
Rockwell Engineering was founded in County Cork in 1981 and has steadily expanded its expertise and reputation since then. Rockwell Engineering we are established specialists in cleanroom construction. Picture: Sean Curtin.
Rockwell always want to go the extra mile for their clients. Embracing Off-Site Manufacturing as part of their service offering over the last few years, Rockwell are now going a step further with Off-Site Ready or OSR.
This ensures seamless delivery, installation and turnover of complex pipework systems and skids.
Rockwell’s existing employee culture of internal growth and development lays the foundation for its future ambition. With a cohort of skilled employees who have climbed to ranks since entering the company in graduate and entry level positions, the companies’ leaders today are loyal to Rockwell in a way that few industry experts are.
Rockwell is a key player for the design and install of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, or as it’s more commonly known, HVAC. This makes up over half of Rockwell’s output due to industry demand. Rockwell deliver projects for all the major pharmaceutical and technology companies operating in Ireland.
Uniquely, Rockwell’s in house manufacturing capacity twinned with the niche skillset of their personnel, positions them to be one of the few firms to deliver the design and build of turn-key solutions and de-carbonisation projects, stemming from its capacity to deliver design, HVAC, and utility pipework directly.
This also includes upgrades to existing facilities to improve heat recovery and energy reduction.
In addition, Rockwell have always designed and constructed cleanrooms and containment booths, built to the highest classification. Both elements are growing in importance for many pharmaceutical facilities.
As their pharmacology ability grows and develops, they often require small and medium sized expansions into other use of fallow areas to support production.
“Rockwell’s have not been very good at self-promotion, and our diverse offering has been somewhat hidden from our clients and the industry for a long time” Garret explains.
“For instance, our HVAC clients think that we’re just a HVAC company and our pipework clients think we’re just a pipework company. We are now on a mission to make sure everyone in Ireland knows what Rockwell do.”
Although complex, due to the live environments, the ability to deliver cleanroom space with all the HVAC & mechanical services, delivered directly by in-house personnel, is a unique one stop shop that leaves Rockwell and the client in control of all aspects of the works.
With all the skills and capabilities that Rockwell already has, Garret and his senior leadership had to identify ways of conveying these abilities to the wider market. The most direct of ways, was creating an entirely new website and designing a sharp and refreshed logo.
After conducting extensive market research, Garret along with his senior leadership, selected a design that would soon become the company logo, and defined the succinct company message that would be presented through the website.
“We wanted to use the website as an opportunity to focus on our employee’s engineering skills and drive. From workshop, to BIM, to planning and management, as well as our diversity of services and ability to deliver more complex projects to solve client needs. At our core we are delivering engineered solutions to fill a client need,” Garret added.
Armed with new and existing expertise, revitalised presentation, and increased visibility. Rockwell’s momentum for progress and growth is becoming increasingly hard to ignore, as the cork firm’s ability to operate in each branch of the industry both in Ireland and Europe in the near future.
