Kilkenny-based Modubuild is seeking to take revenues over the next three years to more than €100 million and may take on outside investment for the first time as it looks to fuel growth.
Chief executive and co-founder Kevin Brennan told The Irish Times the company expected to record revenues of at least €48 million this year, with €35 million of this already secured.
Founded in 2006 by Mr Brennan and John Comerford, the company provides specialist fast-track modular construction services, primarily for customers in the data centre and biopharma sectors.
In addition to being able to construct solutions onsite at customers' facilities, it also has a 14,000sq m facility of its own in Castlecomer where it can manage large-scale projects that can then be transported to sites across the world.
Modubuild recorded revenues of €33 million last year, down from a projected €38 million due to the Covid crisis. The company has seen revenues soar in recent years with turnover standing at just €10 million in 2018.
Mr Brennan said while the coronavirus pandemic impacted on the company, it still recorded 20 per cent growth and took on an additional 55 people. Overall, the company employs more than 400 people globally.
“The growth we recorded during the pandemic was low for us because we’ve been averaging about 65 per cent a year, but we see opportunities arising as a result of the Covid crisis as many companies don’t want to have large-scale construction projects taking place onsite. The fact that we can do these off-site and then transport them is something customers are very interested in,” he said.
Off-site construction
Modubuild, whose customers include Abbvie, Google, Pfizer, Amgen and MSD, was recently involved in a €11 million project for WuXi Biologics that saw it develop an entire two-storey 12,000sq m facility off-site at its Castlecomber facility in just over seven months, with the final solution erected onsite in Dundalk in just nine days.
Mr Brennan, who is a finalist in this year’s EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards, said the company was looking at achieving turnover of more than €100 million over the next three years and may take on outside investment to help it achieve its target.
“We’re looking at north of €100 million and that is just from organic growth and we may also consider making our first acquisitions in the coming years and expanding our facility for which there is plenty of space to do so,” he said.
“I can see us growing to the point where we are employing 1,000 people and are delivering solutions, not just in the 11 countries we’ve done to date but maybe on another continent or two as well. We’re also considering building more production facilities so that we could be working on multiple €20-€30 million projects simultaneously around the globe,” Mr Brennan said.
