Trading Stories: Business going through the roof thanks to father and son team
Conor Kelleher of CK Roofing. Conor hopes to hand over the business to his son in 10 to 15 years.
I registered the business in 2002 after realising that I wanted to go out on my own after working with other companies.
I got into the business when a good friend of mine named Kieran Galvin, who is no longer with us, gave me a job with a company he worked with, and I never looked back since.
I had a variety of different jobs. I was only 22 when I went out on my own, but I was with two other roofing companies before 2002 doing industrial roofing, like large PVC flat roofing and cladding. I also did a lot of carpentry between school, and I even sold the Echo outside the Farmhouse Cake Shop of Princes St many years ago on my way home from school. I did my fair share of picking potatoes in Farranree too, so I'm no stranger to hard work.
The products I offer are whatever the materials that are required for each individual job, which I source from either Cork Builders Providers or T+A Building Supplies in Blackpool. The services I offer are a quality of work which I have acquired over many years doing this work and honesty with clients in terms of advice and pricing.
I think it's more of a case of people knowing what they want these days more than they did before, and this is probably down to the internet and being able to research whatever it is they want, which is definitely a good thing in my opinion.
Yes, my business was affected by the recession, like most other business. So much that I expanded into another business and opened a taxi company on the Northside. When the economy collapsed, I was a subcontractor with large house building companies and when these company's collapses and the construction industry collapsed, work became very scarce. It was then that I had to start printing and delivering flyers into houses and create my own work. Fortunately for me, this worked and we have been tipping away on and off ever since.
It can be tough at times because If I don't work, my family has no other income, because, being self-employed, me and my family have no social welfare entitlements. On the other hand, my eldest son, Cian, works with me and is turning out to be a fine roofer, and that's nice. He just needs to listen more!
Yes, there is a huge problem with rogue traders. I've seen work done by so-called roofers that looks like it was done by children. In the last 6 to 12 months we have had a lot of complaints from people who have been ripped off for huge sums of money for terrible work. People must not be fooled by big flash advertisement on newspapers or big flashy vans with writing on them. Always try to use someone who has done work for someone you know. Ask to see their public liability insurance. Ask them if they are tax registered and to prove it. Ask where they are based and ring them on a landline number. No landline number on an advert is never a good thing. Ask for a guarantee.
I like to think I do good work in a safe manner, which is hugely important. I get on very well with my clients and their neighbours. I think if you do all those things you will stand out from the others.
There are many. I like to meet new people every day and I go to different places every day. My work has taken me to parts of Cork I never knew existed. But, most of all, my favourite thing is the look of satisfaction you get from a satisfied customer. When a person is smiling while they're handing over a lot of money, you must have done something right.
Hopefully, it will be another 10 or 15 years before my body can't physically do it anymore, and by then I can hand it over to Cian to carry it on. I would also like to evolve with new forms of roofing solutions and move forward with new technologies in the future.
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