Produced by Irish building magazine and construction consultants Linesight the ‘Top 50 league table of Irish main and specialist contractors’ revealed that an impressive 86% of the Top 50 experienced an increase in turnover in 2022, up by 18% from 2021 to €13.75 billion in 2022.

The annual listing highlights the critical importance of construction to the Irish economy and exchequer.

Colin Walsh, Media Director, Irish building magazine said: “The figures recorded in the ‘Irish building magazine and Linesight Top 50 League Table’ shows an ongoing rallying in the Irish construction sector with 86% of Top 50 Irish contractors recording an increase in 2022 turnover from 2021. These positive results must be balanced with the need for the government and the industry to work together to solve the skills shortage. The majority of contractors interviewed as part of the Irish building magazine ‘Leaders in Construction’ interview series reported that labour shortages are now proving to be of more concern than construction cost inflation. According to the latest CSO Labour Force Survey, there are now approximately 160,000 people employed in construction, with demand currently exceeding supply.”

“Ireland needs an appropriately resourced construction sector to be sustainable, productive and efficient as it is essential for the delivery of the ambitious targets set out in the National Development Plan as well as meeting the needs of clients,” Colin added.

Stephen Ashe, Senior Director – Europe at Linesight notes that the hyper-inflation and commodity materials price volatility that has characterised the past two and a half years has come to an end.

“Macroeconomic inflation is starting to ease and projected to hit 5% in 2023, which represents a decent reduction compared to the average of 8.1% in the previous year. This is partly because energy prices have dropped considerably from the highs of last year, which is bringing commodity costs down as energy is a big factor in the production and delivery of commodities,” Stephen said.

Ireland’s Top 50 main and specialist contractors listing features exclusively in the current issue of Irish building, Ireland’s leading construction sector magazine.

John Sisk & Son (Sisk) topped the 2022 list of contractors with a turnover of over €1.73 billion, followed by Mercury Engineering and Jones Engineering with turnovers of €1.70 billion and €1.0 billion, respectively. Sisk CEO, Paul Brown, noted the company’s strong performance in 2022, mentioning their involvement in major projects across various sectors at home and abroad.

There are major positives for the industry, but there are also concerns for the contractors. The skills shortage continues to be a concern for the industry. The unsuitability of the public works forms of contract is an ongoing concern for many contractors; with some promoting more innovative methods of procurement, such as Integrated Project Delivery, two-stage procurement and Early Contractor Involvement.

“The construction industry continues to adapt and change with the ongoing developments in the use of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), including offsite and pre fabrication. The Industry is working smarter through its use of digital construction technologies. Working safer and continuing to invest in making the industry more diverse is a necessity. An obvious fix for the skills shortage in construction is inclusivity and diversity as currently for example only approx. 8% of the construction labour force is female, a huge untapped resource. We need to continue to promote construction as a dynamic place to work for everyone,” said Colin Walsh.

You can read interviews with Ireland’s ‘Leaders in Construction’ in the latest issue of Irish building and check out which companies made it onto the Top 50.

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