As part of Irwin Electrical’s ongoing growth to penetrate theUK&Irelandmarket and build further relationships with facilities managers, fm companies and engineers, we are proud to have used the event as a branding and marketing exercise for the first time.

We were the sole electrical contractors at the event and after a busy two days, Irwin Electrical have began the process of

John Irwin, Jonny Crawford & Keith Stewart at FM Ireland 2012

continuing to develop these key relationships by being able to offer those involved with facilities and site management exciting alternatives and a progressive electrical contractor offering a wide range of electrical installation, testing and preventative / reactive maintenance services across UK & Ireland.

Business Development Manager Jonathan Crawford along with company directors Keith Stewart and Richard Megarity and founder John Irwin attended the show,

“FM Ireland is the biggest showpiece inIrelandfor offering services, networking with clients, establishing sales leads and most importantly, getting our company known. It was a valuable branding exercise, one of which we will certainly be attending again”

Another "Plus" for Irwin Electrical

Importance of compliance and legislation is becoming more important in clients demands.

Irwin Electrical realise this and have gained another value added accredidation.

ContractorPlus is a web enabled database that ensures total compliance to Health and Safety Legislations. Having registered with ContractorPlus and going through a studious process of requirements, Irwin Electrical have now gained official SM&MS Accredation leaving our clients with peace of mind that, once again, Irwin Electrical will be providing the highest quality service and level of committment to Heatlh and Safety regulations.

The 10,000 sq ft warehouse was time scaled at 16 weeks and the £150,000+ project was to work alongside our strategic business partners, Cross Refrigeration to install all the wiring on the refrigeration side.  

Refrigeration controls installed by Irwin Electrical on behalf of Cross Refrigeration

The installation was of industrial nature with heavy gauge cable tray and armoured cable the preferred method of installation. It included all the power supplies for the refrigeration equipment and also many control cables for the Danfoss controls used throughout the site.

The project had 6 electricians onsite at any one time and was successfully headed up by Simon Marshall. They completed the project on time and even completed an extra freezer room within the original time frame set out.

The rest of the team who deserve recognition of their efforts include Chris Allen, Kevin Curley, Jonny Hedley, Colin Gibson, Stevie Cray, Mark Reid, Darren Stewart, Barry Torley and Jamie Neville.

Project Manager, Simon Marshall has specially commended Chris Allen, who is now in sunny Australia, for running the site and on achieving the high level of electrical work expected by Irwin Electrical and also a special recognition to Darren Stewart, whom as an apprentice showed a real “can do” attitude and proved to be one of the best electricians on site, even though he is still in his apprenticeship. Well done to Darren. And well done Irwin Electrical for a successful job completed for one of the UK’s leading companies.

The firm recently received accreditation from SAFEcontractor, a programme which recognises very high standards of health and safety practise among UK contractors.

Health, Safety and Environmental Manager, Bronagh McGarrity receiving the SafeContractor Certification for Irwin Electrical

Employing 80-plus people, Irwin Electrical is principally involved in the installation, testing, reactive maintenance and proactive maintenance of the electrical industry. Recent clients have included H & J Heinz, IKEA, H & J Martin, Royal Victoria Hospitals and the Southern Education and Library Board.

The Irwin Electrical company’s application for SAFEcontractor accreditation was driven by the need for a uniform standard across the business.

Jonathan Crawford, Business Development Manager explained: “As part of Irwin Electrical’s continuous business improvement and seeking to continue to be a market leader, we no longer felt it acceptable just to be meeting minimal standards when it comes to risk management and health and safety policies. By exceeding basic standards it has helped us achieve a nationwide accreditation for adapting the best standards in risk management. Being accredited with SAFEcontractor will also assist us in tender processes and achieving supply chain status with the UK’s Top 100 companies.”

John Kinge, Head of Risk at SAFEcontractor said, “Major organisations can no longer run the risk of employing contractors who are not able to prove that they have sound health and safety policies.

“More companies need to understand the importance of adopting good risk management in the way that Irwin Electrical has done. The firm’s high standard has set an example, which hopefully will be followed by other companies within the sector.”

Under the SAFEcontractor system, businesses undergo a vetting process, which examines health and safety procedures and their track record for safe practice. Those companies meeting the high standard are included on a database, which is accessible to registered users only via a website, www.safecontractor.com

Employer-organisations who sign up to the scheme can access the database, enabling them to vet potential contractors before they even set foot on site. These employers agree that, as users of the scheme, they will engage only those who have received accreditation.

Over 150 major nation-wide businesses, from several key sectors, have signed up to use the scheme when selecting contractors for services such as building, cleaning, maintenance, refurbishment or electrical and mechanical work.

Within Irwin Electrical we promote sustainable working practices and sustainable development within our environment/community and in establishing a strong core of staff blended with experience and youth in order to develop. These efforts have been recognized recently by winning of two prestigious awards.

Firstly the BES6001 benchmark certificate  by Carbon Zero NI “Responsible Sourcing of Materials Programme” Certificate sponsored by CITB Construction Skills, DEL NI, CEF and QPA NI.

Craigavon Business Champions 2011.

Secondly our efforts for sustainability and continuing to triumph over adversity in the tough climate we are in has been recognized by the fact that we are proud to announce that Irwin Electrical succeeded to win the award of “Craigavon Business Champion”. This award is to celebrate the success of outstanding business in the South East area. The awards were hosted by South East Economic Development and funded by the European Development fund and we hope that this can springboard us to further success down the line. We would like to thank all of our staff and customers for the support of our recent recognitions and in continuing to embrace our philosophy of innovation, sustainability, growth from within and of course “Building of strategic partnerships for Life” Congratulations to everyone involved.

Irwin Electrical in partnership with Barclay Communications

office computers where used for emails, faxes where used for receiving orders, and mobile phones where rarely used and never carried as they were simply a nuisance.

Well now mobile phone technology is a way of life and Irwin Electrical continues to be innovative to utilise this technology as efficiently as possible. Gone are the nostalgic days of sitting behind a desk. In partnership with “Barclay Communications”, Irwin Electrical use O2 and Blackberry to offer a lean communication process from top-level management down to operational level.

Every senior manager, every contracts manager and every foreman use Blackberry Curve devices that provide features such as software to read documents and drawings, ability to sync emails directly to a handset and allows the ability to offer an increase in response time by at least 10fold. Customers no longer have to wait until emails are read in offices. Supervisors no longer have to wait until the next management meeting to see where they have to be next. Response is more efficient, there is no need for unnecessary overtime and most critical are customers are dealt with immediately, all down to our utilisation of mobile phone technology, using the Blackberry Curve Smart phones in our business.

Artists impression of the completed Appletree Development Project

Named “Appletree Development Project”, by our client Trinity Housing in association with Southern Health Trust, the project is geared towards helping those with dementia.

The project will provide a new managed sheltered housing and dementia care unit of 24 flats in Bridge Street, Downpatrick.

Irwin Electrical will be carrying out the whole and complete £300k installation of the new build scheme and we are extremely proud to be associated with such a project aimed at providing care through Trinity Housing Association.

We look forward to completion and commissioning by the end of the year.

In June 2011 Irwin Electrical’s success of completion on the last upgrade has not went unnoticed. Through a successful tender process, Irwin Electrical has again been successful in providing the electrical modernisation of landlord switchgear, distribution, lighting and TV distribution systems in Woodstock House, Willowbrook House and Kilbronney House.

With securing yet another £500,000 contract with the NIHE’s progressive approach to modernisation of housing, it really does bear fruit that our mission statement of “Building strategic partnerships for Life” is working.

This project aims to be completed on time in October 2011

Acorn School, now fully equipped with a newly installed fire alarm system

Acorn Integrated Primary School, in Carrickfergus put confidence in awarding Irwin Electrical Services to install their new L3 Fully addressable Fire Alarm System.

This £30k project has  enabled the school to have an up-to-date, modernised and compliant system that is required in today’s education facilities. We are proud that the installation was fully commissioned and completed on time and within budget.

It is that time of year again where we start our 2011 intake in offering young and aspiring trades people the opportunity to be part of our exciting company to fulfill their potential of becoming a top quality electrician, whilst contributing to our ongoing success of providing first class workmanship.

Apprentices will be trained to gain an Approved Electrician Qualification under the ETT Modern Apprenticeship Scheme

We will be recruiting a number of Electrical Modern Apprenticeships for intake in September 2011 for both Portadown and Belfast areas.

See our jobs section for more information on how to apply, or visit the ETT WEBSITE for further information on the Apprenticeship Schemes.

http://www.irwinelectrical.com/nc/jobs/

http://www.ett-ni.org/job/621735