Green & Fortune Ltd SECTOR: Hospitality FOUNDER & CHIEF EXECUTIVE: John Nugent FOUNDED: 2008 STAFF: N/A TURNOVER: N/A The Green & Fortune owner-operated hospitality company is split into three ventures. The Green & Fortune café in Kings Place, London specialises in honest British food, the Rotunda Bar & Restaurant in Kings Place serves great food in a canal-side location, and Kings Place Events, which last month won Best Catering at a Venue in the London Venue Awards. Headed up by John Nugent, the company has gone from strength to strength since it was established in 2008. This year it commenced a contract with advertising and marketing agency Ogilvy & Mather to operate all catering and hospitality facilities at the company’s new corporate headquarters at South Bank, catering for 2,200 on-site employees. Greencoats Ltd SECTOR: Hospitality FOUNDER: Finbar Holian FOUNDED: 1996 STAFF: 40 TURNOVER: N/A Galway native Finbar Holian moved to London when he was 18. He operates The Claddagh Ring in Hendon established in 1991. The firm will be celebrating the 25th anniversary on the weekend of November 25. Grosvenor Cleaning Services Ltd SECTOR: Services FOUNDER: John Bernard McCauley FOUNDED: 1959 STAFF: 4,500+ worldwide TURNOVER: N/A Grosvenor Cleaning Services is an international commercial cleaning company with offices in Britain, Ireland and the US. Established in Belfast in 1959, it was the brainchild of John Bernard McCauley, who on returning to Ireland after a tour with the US Army set out on his bike to clean windows. With bases now in London, Birmingham and Lincolnshire, Grosvenor Services remains a family owned and run company, with Ben McCauley as head of British operations. In October Stephen Creaner joined the company in the role of Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Group Managing Director, while Barry McGrane has been appointed as Finance Director. Ground Construction Ltd (GCL) SECTOR: Groundworks & Concrete Frame DIRECTOR: Trevor Diviney FOUNDED: 1997 STAFF: 1,000+ TURNOVER: N/A Operating since 1997, GCL have experienced an exponential but controlled growth over the years. Apart from all aspects of civil engineering, groundworks and concrete frames, the company offers a complete package that includes principle contractor roles, assisting clients with planning, liaising with local authorities, permanent works design, temporary works design and rebar detailing. GCL has successfully completed in excess of £800million worth of work on more than 400 projects. This summer the company was awarded a £29million package by St William (Berkeley Group) and a £12million package by Wates. Instalcom Ltd SECTOR: Utilities MANAGING DIRECTOR: John McVeigh FOUNDED: 1989 STAFF: 215 TURNOVER: £30million+ With activities spanning the telecoms, electrical and water sectors, Instalcom is at the heart of what makes Britain tick. Based in London but with offices in Edinburgh, Cardiff, Manchester and Borehamwood, it supplies utility contract services throughout Britain. It offers design, planning, project management and installation services that take a holistic approach to each and every client’s project requirements.
The Irish Post SECTOR: Media/Publishing PUBLISHER: Elgin Loane FOUNDED: 1970 STAFF: 10 TURNOVER: N/A The biggest-selling newspaper to the Irish in Britain, every week 80,000 people pick up a copy of The Irish Post, while thousands more log on the daily news website www.irishpost.co.uk. In recent years, with Editor-in-Chief Siobhán Breatnach at the helm, the editorial team have taken the newspaper to a new online audience, with an impressive 500,000 unique visitors from Britain, Ireland and the US now visiting the website every month for the latest news, interviews and opinion pieces and to read the paper’s unrivalled sports coverage. As well as the weekly print edition and daily news website, The Irish Post produce a number of glossy magazine supplements every year, profiling the top Irish names in business, as well as hosting high profile events in London, attracting the who’s who of the Irish in Britain. INSPIRING: Brendan Riney MBE
JB Riney & Co Ltd SECTOR: Civil Engineering and Highway Maintenance Contractors MANAGING DIRECTOR: Brendan Riney MBE FOUNDED: 1978 STAFF: 201-500 TURNOVER: N/A JB Riney & Co Ltd is a fully independent civil engineering company based in East London for over 30 years. The company is primarily involved in civil engineering contracting and currently delivers Highway Term Contracts for a number of London Local Authorities. Founder Brendan Riney, who still holds the position of Chairman and Managing Director, was this year named Kerry Association London Person of the Year 2016. J Browne Group SECTOR: Civil Engineering & Utility Contractors CHAIRMAN: Jeremy Browne FOUNDED: 1971 STAFF: 550+ TURNOVER: £68million J Browne is a family business with a long trading history, which employs a loyal workforce. Jeremy Browne is executive chairman of J Browne and the company’s majority shareholder. He has a real passion for health & safety leadership and has instigated industry leading wellbeing support for his employees. He is committed to maintaining the family culture but also to developing the business to deliver a modern, innovative and professional service to customers. J D Wetherspoon Plc SECTOR: Pub/Services CHAIRMAN: Tim Martin FOUNDED: 1979 STAFF: 37,000+ TURNOVER: £1.6billion
J D Wetherspoon opened its first pub in Muswell Hill in north London in 1979, when founder and chairman Tim Martin was just 24 years old. The company now has over 900 pubs in Britain and has opened five in Ireland over the last two years. The company also has over 40 hotels and recently opened its first custom-built hotel in Huntingdon. It is also currently seeking planning permission for an 88-room hotel and pub in Dublin, and aims to open new pubs in Carlow and Waterford. John Reilly Civil Engineering Ltd SECTOR: Construction CHAIRMAN: John Reilly DIRECTORS: David Reilly, Michael Reilly, Jamie Austin, Rob Jones, Graham O’Neill and Yip Lieu FOUNDED: 1986 STAFF: 550 TURNOVER: £40million Established by three brothers in 1986 as a civil engineering and groundworks company, over the years John Reilly Civil Engineering has grown and developed from its Hampshire and Dorset base across Kent, East and West Sussex, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey and Middlesex. The company prides itself on staff retention, with most employees boasting over a decade of service with the firm. John Sisk & Son Ltd SECTOR: Construction MANAGING DIRECTOR: Stephen Bowcott DIRECTORS: Frank Quirk, John Dennehy, Mike Higgins, Guy Fowler, Paraic Keogh, Pat Lucey, Wayne Metcalfe, Maura Toles and Carl Hendry FOUNDED: 1859 (UK subsidiary 1984) STAFF: circa 1,500 TURNOVER: £800million The Sisk Group’s history goes back over 150 years, when the family business was set up by John Sisk, an apprentice plasterer at the age of 22, before setting up the business in 1859. Its British subsidiary was set up in 1984. This year, the firm was appointed to build a 660,000sq ft mixed-use development at Capital Dock for Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm Kennedy Wilson – one of the biggest commercial development contracts awarded in the Irish market in recent years. In Britain, the firm is currently working jointly with Lagan on the construction of a triple-decker roundabout in Tyneside. JRL Group Ltd SECTOR: Construction DIRECTORS: John James Reddington, Ronan Gleeson, Kevin William Keegan FOUNDED: 1996 STAFF: 600 TURNOVER: £180million+ Founded by John Reddington in 1996, the JRL Group has grown from a company specialising in sub and superstructure packages to a business that offers managed integrated construction solutions via 10 specialist companies operating in the built environment to full turnkey projects. In September, JRL acquired the 9.8 acre Grantham Distribution Park site in Lincolnshire from Gladman Developments. The site has detailed consent for the construction of a 214,881 sq ft distribution or warehousing facility with offices. Kelliher Insurance Group SECTOR: Insurance Brokers FOUNDER: Joe Kelliher, Lifetime President FOUNDED: 1986 STAFF: 150 TURNOVER: £14.4million Celebrating 30 years in business, Kelliher Insurance Group is an independent insurance brokers comprised of component businesses and brands including Kerry London, Trade Direct, Self Build and Kerry London Underwriting. The company specialises in insurance policies in the construction, manufacturing, healthcare, property and sport and leisure sectors. This year the group launched a five-year vision plan involving significant investment and focusing on organic growth. Imogen Coggan, the former managing director who was this year appointed CEO, said: “It’s an exciting time for everyone at the company as we plan initiatives to help us achieve significant growth and increase our profits.”
15 THE VOICE OF THE IRISH IN BRITAIN SINCE 1970
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