Brian McConville tells Sean Dudley what sets MJM Group apart in the marine industry
By
Sean Dudley |
This article was first published in the Spring/Summer 2015 issue of Cruise & Ferry Interiors.
From humble beginnings, MJM Group has established itself as a leading player as an international interior fit out and refurbishment specialist, in the marine, hotel, education, commercial, hospitality and private sectors.
The company was the brainchild of Brian McConville (pictured), who founded the group at the tender age of 22, with a turnover in its first year of £100,000. 32 years later, he is setting his sights on pushing the company’s annual turnover past the £100 million mark.
“MJM Group is a family run business, and our staff have a ‘can do’ attitude,” says McConville. “We’ve seen particularly rapid growth in the last ten years. We’re innovative, always up for a challenge, and work with our customers to deliver the best product at a competitive price.”
With purpose-built headquarters in Northern Ireland of 100,000sqft manufacturing space, the company combines traditional skills of expert craftsmen with the latest technology to create bespoke joinery and fit-out solutions. The company has further manufacturing facilities in Antrim, Northern Ireland and in Antibes, France with satellite offices in the US, France and Poland. A further office is planned for the company in Singapore.
2014 was a huge year for the company, as major projects were carried out on Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas vessels.
“For the Oasis of the Seas project, we had 1,100 onboard the ship for a 21-day project that took place in Rotterdam, Holland,” McConville explains. “We stripped six large public areas back to bare steel and installed two new A60 galleys, complete with all equipment to current standards. We also supplied and installed 100 brand new suite cabins, and completely refurbished the main dining room.”
Customer feedback for the work was extremely positive, with McConville saying he was told the company had ‘pushed the boundaries of what can be achieved with a drydock project’.
“For the Allure of the Seas project, we completed the in-service work two weeks ahead of schedule, and there were five days removed out of the contract for the drydock work,” says McConville. “We had 1,182 people aboard the vessel carrying out the work.”
The success of the Oasis and Allure projects led to MJM being awarded a nine-ship deal by Celebrity Cruises.
“We carried out work on five ships at one time, and then went straight onto another four,” says McConville. “This meant we required five different fully-fledged teams, comprised of project management staff, risk managers, health and safety people, environmental people, tradesmen, foremen and logistics teams.”
These teams came from within the organisation and enabled the projects to be carried out efficiently and cost effectively.
“You can imagine the amount of fumes and welding and burning that takes place in a project like this,” says McConville. “Yet the passengers didn’t even know we were onboard. There were absolutely no complaints from passengers on the nine ships.”
The company is now investing in the future to continue its upward trajectory.
“We have a growing research and development team here, and we have identified and are now delivering high-performance engineered laminate structures in house,” explains McConville. “We’re about to launch a new range of products designed specifically for the fit-out market in the world cruise industry. We’re also going to build a brand new purpose-built factory purely for the production of high performance engineered laminated structures for the refit and cruise industry.”