Entrepreneurs
Ahead of the annual EY Entrepreneur of the Year competition in November, Nick Mulcahy lifts the hood on four of the more interesting finalists
EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year competition showcases some of Ireland’s best enterprising talent. These four finalists illustrate the varied routes to building a successful business
KEVIN BRENNAN
Modubuild in Co. Kilkenny is a fantastic success story for managing director Kevin Brennan and his co-founder John Comerford. The business operates from a 140,000 sq. ft. facility in Castlecomer, where building modules for high-tech industrial buildings are constructed and transported to customers in Ireland and across Europe.
The company’s accounts filing to April 2020 doesn’t disclose turnover, but gross profit doubled through the year to €3.4m. Operating profit increased to €2.9m from €1m and cash generated from operating activities was €3.4m compared with €620,000 the previous year.
Brennan (47) started his career designing clean rooms for the pharmaceutical industry and noted the inefficiencies of the construction process. In January 2006, at the age of 32, Brennan established Modubuild Designs Ltd with Comerford – with the idea of making modular building systems for specialised applications.
An initial focus was structures with fire and explosion protection built-in, and the customer base was developed among biopharmacy and data centre customers. The service spans factory design, making the modular units, commissioning, and on-site assembly.
Modubuild’s first international contract was a data centre project in the Netherlands in 2015. The boom in data centres has been a key growth driver, and the company is now active in 11 countries. In Ireland last year, Modubuild delivered a Modular Vaccine Laboratory for WuXi Vaccines, which was finished on-site in 12 days after the first module was positioned. In the year to April 2020, employment doubled to 51 people, and the company says that in the past year direct employment has doubled again. When contractors are counted in, Brennan estimates that the venture now provides employment for c.400 people.
The company, with share capital of €100, had net worth of €5.8m at the latest balance sheet date. Liabilities were €8.4m, including €1.6m bank debt owed to AIB, up from €700,000 the year before. A remarkable aspect of the growth story is how the founders have expanded the firm without resorting to outside investment.