Suir Engineering: Delivering successful mission critical projects in the Nordics

Ireland has undeniably been in the forefront of infrastructure solutions over the last decade. Suir Engineering, an Irish company with over 35 years of mechanical, electrical and instrumentation (M, E&I) expertise, carries out more than €200 million worth of business annually with offices in Dublin, Waterford, London, Denmark, Sweden, and Germany. 

Suir Engineering has a directly employed workforce of more than 1200 people and operates in the following sectors: data centres, energy & utilities (sub-stations & power infrastructure projects), renewables (wind farms & Battery Energy Storage Systems), pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and commercial offices. Suir Engineering has the financial strength, scale, and technical expertise to meet all its clients’ needs, from design of mechanical, electrical systems through to the installation and commissioning of projects.

Success stories from the Nordics

The first business activity for Suir Engineering in the Nordic Region was in 2012 when the company worked for a large food distribution company in Norway. They entered the Swedish market in 2018 by securing work with one of their high-profile Data Centre clients that they were already working with in Ireland. This expansion into the Nordic region was a progressive step for Suir Engineering.

“By doing repeat business with existing Data Centre clients who we were already working with in Ireland provided us both a space for better communication, improved strategy, and issue resolution. Since our move to the Nordics and by working with local experts, such as Enterprise Ireland, we were able to build relationships with people within the supply chain of Data Centre projects in advance.” – Mark Duffy, Regional Director Scandinavia, Suir Engineering

The people behind Suir Engineering

When Suir Engineering realised that there were great opportunities to grow the company in the Nordic Region, it was decided it would be best to have a well respected familiar face within Suir to lead that growth locally. They advertised internally the position and Mark Duffy, who started his career in the company more than 20 years ago, immediately jumped at the opportunity. He has progressed through the business and is now one of their most senior construction staff. Mark’s wife and two children are now well settled in Stockholm and like Mark they are also enjoying their new home and looking forward to the opportunities and challenges ahead.

“I got the opportunity to join Suir Engineering in 1997 as an apprentice and it was clear from the start that Suir Engineering’s number one asset was their people. Suir Engineering prioritise direct hire practices and make it their mission to contribute to their employee’s development every step of the way.” – Mark Duffy, Regional Director Scandinavia, Suir Engineering

Innovation as a part of the Swedish and Irish mindset

To be more efficient in delivering projects and explore opportunities for continuous improvement, Suir Engineering set up a technology team to collaborate and look at modern methods of construction to ensure they were at the forefront of new technologies. This project includes delivering innovation to the Data Centre Industry by adopting 3D modelling, Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QAQC) digital platforms, offsite fabrication and Lean principles.

The implementation of the project has had the benefits of driving continuous improvement, while improving safety, quality, employee job satisfaction and reducing carbon footprint. It has also significantly reduced the volume of manhours on site, together with the reduction in manual handling and working at height activities, whilst enabling a decrease in site compound requirements and waste materials to landfill. This has resulted in a 15% increase in recurring revenue from customers in the Mission Critical sector.

The future is green

With Mark now leading Suir Engineering in the Nordics, the strategy is to sustainably build a multi-million SEK business out of Stockholm which will support the Nordic region. The company is well advanced with this strategy in Sweden and Denmark and currently looking at exciting opportunities in Norway and Finland as well. They have started to recruit locally and this Autumn a long term recruitment campaign will begin in the Universities and Schools which will hopefully make the Suir brand more recognizable to the local community which in time will attract new people into the business.

The Data Centre sector initially attracted Suir Engineering to the Nordics and even though this has been a great way to get going started, this sector may not be as strong in 5/8 years’ time. Therefore, the next stage of Suir Engineering’s growth in Scandinavia will be to establish themselves as a leading contractor in the renewables sector. They are currently playing at the highest level in this sector in Ireland and it is their intention to do the same here. Suir Engineering will start by working with existing clients by assisting them achieve their renewable commitments and reduction of CO2. In addition, the exploration for Wind Farm Developments, Power Upgrade Projects, Battery Energy Storage Projects, Solar and Hydrogen Projects, will be continued.