Chadwicks trade customer Joe Grogan pictured receiving the keys to a brand-new Toyota 211 Proace City van at Chadwicks in Tullamore today. Chadwicks teamed up with Toyota Ireland to give one lucky trade customer the chance to win a 211 Toyota Proace City, following its arrival in Ireland in late 2020.
Offaly native Joe Grogan of J & J Grogan Construction and trade customer of Chadwicks Tullamore and Chadwicks Ballinasloe scooped the top prize of the new Toyota Proace City out of over a thousand of entries. Joe drives away in a van perfectly adapted for tradespeople including a Chadwicks approved lockbox to ensure all tools and materials can be safely stored while on the go.
We did a short interview with Joe after he was given the keys to his brand new van, read more about Joe Grogan Construction below:
Where are you based?The Birr & Tullamore area, Co. Offaly
How long have you been in business? For over 35 years, since 1984
What area of construction do you specialise in? Residential construction of new builds and renovations.
Tell us about your background, how did you get into this business? My father was a farmer, and would have been a handyman too. I started out working with my brother who’s a carpenter so I specialised in this area too. I worked with my brother for many years before then going out on my own. My brother is retired now, and I’d say I won’t be too far behind him!
Are there any trends you’ve seen in customer demands over the last year or so since Covid19? There’s certainly a lot of home offices being built. This is anything from a full garage refit, to smaller renovations, where people are renovating smaller box rooms that were unused. Over the autumn/winter months, we were kept very busy with clients wanting to improve their energy efficiency, and updating their insulation and improving their overall heating systems.
Are there any changes in the construction industry that has changed your offering in recent years? We are moving towards air to water heating, heat recovery and underfloor heating. We’ve also seen that heat pumps are much more popular than solar panels, and we’re also seeing much more demand for electrical PV panels.
What do you predict will be the next big thing that homeowners will be asking for, and what will you do to prepare for future trends? It’s difficult to say what’s next, especially the way prices of materials are increasing so quickly. I would say that energy efficiency in residential construction will continue to be important, and improvements in sustainable construction.
How important is the quality of the products for your business? Extremely important, especially the quality of the timber, this is the most important.
How important is it to have a building materials provider that you can rely on? This is also extremely important, without the materials, I can’t do the job.
How long have you been shopping with Chadwicks and what do you like about shopping there? I’ve been shopping locally with Tullamore and Ballinasloe for over 3 decades!
How did you feel when you got the call to say you won the Toyota Proace City? Honestly I was absolutely over the moon, I just couldn’t believe it!
How has the new van helped with your business? It’s been such a great addition to the business. As we say here, “it’s a very handy run around, great for tipping!”
Have you kept it for yourself or for one of your employees? I’ve been using it myself, but the lads also get use out of it.
Have you got a new favourite tool since getting your new Dewalt tools? Yes absolutely, it was a great surprise to get that as part of the prize. I am using the new Dewalt tools every day now on site.
How important is it that you receive support through training programs from your builders providers? It’s useful, but we haven’t had the time to go to many. We went to a workshop that was all about air tightness and insulation, we found it very helpful.
What would you say is your greatest professional achievement in your business so far? Going back to 1998, we built the stand at St. Brendan’s GAA Park. A close second would also have to be my own house.
Do you have any exciting projects coming up that you can tell us about? We’re working on a new build at the moment, and it’s ready for the roof. We’ve lots of renovation projects coming up, however the big problem we have down here is lack of skilled trade, in particular labourers and apprentices, there’s not many young people at all coming through.
What do you think 2021 has in store for you and your business? A very busy year ahead, with so many works put on hold the last few months, we have a lot of catching up to do.
What’s the best way for potential new customers to contact you? Get in touch with me on my mobile.
