IRELAND’S economic boom is driving record growth for a Tyrone-based construction firm which has secured €30 million (£26.5m) worth of work in the past 12 months within the Republic.
Forrme, which celebrated its 40th anniversary and re-branded from Donaghmore Construction in January, said overall turnover had soared five-fold from £6m to over £32m since 2014, with staff numbers rising from 13 to 55.
And managing director Mark Currie said his company was currently tendering for an additional €25m (£22m) worth of residential, education and health projects in the Republic as part of an ambitious growth and diversification strategy across the island of Ireland.
“We entered the Republic of Ireland market just last year, with our first project being a €2.9m design and build development of 20 social housing units in Mulhuddart, Dublin, under the Office of Government Procurement’s rapid-delivery housing framework.
"Designed and constructed in just 36 weeks, the scheme comprised a mix of two and three bedroom houses. The works were successfully completed in November, on time, on budget and to the resounding satisfaction of Fingal County Council, residents and the political arena alike.
"Since February 2017, we have successfully secured €30m of work in the Republic. This has all been residential, with a mix of social and private housing. Whilst we will be pursuing further residential work in the Republic we also plan to broaden our service offering in line with Northern Ireland to include commercial, education, healthcare, industrial, fit-out and civil engineering.”
He said other key drivers in the recent growth of Forrme (www.forrme.co.uk) were the expansion of its senior management team and the broadening of its services to include commercial projects like Lidl Magherafelt (worth £3m), Spires Retail Park in Armagh (£5m) and Laharna Retail Park in Larne (£3m).
