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One company that has been with the ESB for many years is David Nodwell Ltd. This Glanmire, Co Cork based business is owned by David himself and for this month’s edition of Irish Trucker, we profile his company and he speaks to us about the services that are provided to the ESB. David epitomises what hard work and endeavour can achieve as he explains that he started out on his own in business at a very young age. “I grew up in a housing estate where on one side of me my neighbour was Cyril Shorten, who had an artic truck in general
haulage. On the other side my neighbour was John Crowley, who had plant, machinery and tipper trucks, and worked for the ESB. “My own father owned a toy shop but I was interested in outdoor activities and was very fortunate that John and Cyril would allow me to come working with them on days off and summer holidays. “I got great life experience back then which helps me to this day and I will always be very grateful to Cyril and John. “I left school at 18 and I bought my first digger from John Crowley for £25,000 and started doing some work for the ESB and the rate was £10.50 per hour. That was in 1995 and I am still with them today,” said David. “In 1998, I bought my first brand new digger and I have built up the business from there. I would now have a wide range of plant ranging from one and a half tonne diggers to 22 tonne track machines. “I would be a dual contractor with the ESB in that we do overhead and underground work. The overhead work involves delivering and standing poles, as well as supplying a 24/7 backup service for emergency installation repair work. The underground work consists of laying ESB ducting and small civil works, and with this we also provide a 24/7 fault response service, with a two-hour response time.” The ESB had the policy of hiring a large number of sub-contractors in different areas, but following a company restructure; they moved to a smaller number of larger contractors throughout Ireland. David had to tender for the work and having many years’ experience with the ESB saw him win one of the contracts. “It now means that we are working in multi-divisions and that means covering almost the entire Munster region.” To carry out the extra work, David has 20 employees on the books, while ten sub-contractors would be working for him on a regular basis. “Once we got the contract, we decided that the company couldn’t stand still and this year we have invested heavily in plant and machinery to maintain and improve our level of service. “As the company has grown, more and more people are looking for work. I have good workers on the books and I take great care
The team at David Nodwell Ltd. Back, l/r: Mark Daly, Robert Turner, James Murray, Michael Walsh, Roy O’Riordan, Brendan Leahy, Ray Hayes, Mark Ahern. Front, l/r: Mike Regan, Ger Kiely, Peter Murray, Kevin O’Rourke, Ray O’Neill, Jimmy Nodwell, Charles Grumbridge, Ken O’Brien, David Nodwell IRISH TRUCKER & LIGHT COMMERCIALS
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