SEVERFIELD NI “can compete with any of the major players,” according to Managing Director Brian Keys.


From Enniskillen, Mr. Keys has been employed with the Ballinamallard-based manufacturing firm since 1986 and has overseen the transition from Fisher Engineering to Severfield NI.


According to Mr. Keys, a firm cannot rely on the strength of its name alone. While the Fisher name was synonymous with excellence in the world of structural steelwork, it is the strength and expertise of the local employees that has allowed Severfield NI to continue to secure prestigious projects in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.


“Our order book is very good going into 2016. I have no worries about the security of this business; we can compete with any of the major players,” said Mr. Keys. “Our workforce is second to none. It’s the ability, skills, resources and excellent work ethic of this company that makes it a major player within the [Severfield] group,” he added.


Founded by Tommy Fisher in 1950 as a blacksmith’s workshop servicing the local farming community, the business steadily developed throughout the 1950s and 1960s. When the second generation of the Fisher family joined the business in the 1970s, the emphasis changed to structural steelwork. 


“One of its first major local projects was the Lakeland Forum with Tracey Brothers,” Mr. Keys explained. “Bertie, Ernie and Ivan Fisher were the second generation who drove the business on to what it is today. It was a case of going for bigger and better all the time.”


Securing the contract for the DeLorean car plant in Dunmurry in 1981 was “a big milestone” for the company.
“We also developed a great relationship with the Quinn Group in the very early days and we did most of their buildings. The cement, tile and glass plants were all built by us,” Mr. Keys commented.


The company stepped up their ambitions within the Northern Ireland market when it secured the Castlecourt contract in 1987. Mr. Keys explained: “The Castlecourt shopping centre was one of the biggest leaps in scale and size. We were doing jobs of 5-600 tonnes and then we jumped up to a job at 4,000 tonnes. Even today, a 4,000 tonne job is still a good job.”


They continued to target more complex jobs such as The Waterfront Hall and The Odyssey Arena. In 2007 the company secured a contract for Victoria Square in Belfast and in 2010 it was awarded a contract for the Titanic Signature Building.


In 1989 the company got their first big break in the Republic of Ireland by securing the contract for the Intel plant in Leixlip. Other major facilities included a Coca Cola facility; a 15,000 tonne Bio Technology Campus in Dublin; Dundrum Town Shopping Centre; The National Conference Centre and The Point Village.
Mr. Keys recalled: “For 10 years, in the lead up to 2007, we had chased the Celtic Tiger and most of our work was in southern Ireland.”


The economic downturn in 2007-2008 hit the construction industry hard. It was at that stage that Fisher Engineering was acquired by Severfield-Rowen plc, the UK’s market-leading structural steel company. In 2014 Severfield-Rowen undertook a major re-branding exercise and became known as Severfield. Its three offices around the UK were also re-branded and Fisher Engineering became Severfield NI.


Reflecting on that period, Mr. Keys said: “The acquisition in 2007 opened up to us the opportunity to work alongside Severfield UK. The first project we worked together on as a group was the Leadenhall Building in London, (nicknamed The Cheesegrater Building) and Heathrow airport. The acquisition did open up new markets for us.


“Since 2007 we have proved ourselves to the Severfield company. In 2012 a number of people went from this company to work for senior positions within the Severfield group so we command a major role in the management of the whole group.


“We set up a Group Services function here (in Ballinamallard), which looks after all transport, plant hire and metal deck flooring business for the group. It’s a good asset to the business. It is a major player within the group and its creation recognises the ability, skills, resources and excellent work ethic of this company.”


Nine years on and Severfield NI carries out 95 per cent of its work in central London and other parts of mainland UK. Around 60 local staff are flown to England each week and other major projects have included South Bank Tower (which features on BBC’s The Apprentice); The Rose Bowl lecture theatre pod at Leeds Metropolitan University; and the Warner Brothers Studios, including the recreation of Platform 9 ¾ of The Harry Potter Experience.
“It’s tough on those guys having to live away from home Monday-Friday but we’ve got to follow the work,” commented Mr. Keys.


He is pleased to note that 2015 began a return to the southern Ireland market with an award for the Covanta waste energy plant in Dublin; a pharmaceutical plant; and - in recent weeks - an Amazon data centre in Dublin.


Northern Ireland needs to provide incentives that will encourage manufacturing in the province and will draw inward investors here, according to Mr. Keys. A “phenomenal brain drain” is taking place and “someone else is getting the benefit of our education system”, added the father of three, whose children all work in England.


He concluded: “Corporation tax will help. You see the American companies bringing high value jobs to southern Ireland, that’s what we need for Northern Ireland.”