Aggregate score

Providing a nationwide service, Irish Aggregates Ltd. is Ireland’s leading supplier of decorative aggregates to the construction and landscaping industries. Irish Trucker paid a visit to the company’s County Cork depot to find out more.

David Merrick, Transport Manager with Irish Aggregates

Operating a fleet of twelve vehicles, Irish Aggregates delivers its leading brand of decorative products to hardware stores, builders and landscape gardeners nationwide. The very highest standards are maintained at all times, as we discovered when chatting to transport manager David Merrick.
David has been with the company for twelve years now and has been at the forefront of a drive for excellence that has seen Irish Aggregates emerge as an undisputed market leader. Irish Aggregates is on top of its game in all departments, from the sourcing of raw materials and imaginative product preparation through to detailed distribution and fleet maintenance.
The entire team at Irish Aggregates know exactly what they’re doing. The professionalism that consequently seeps through every aspect of the company is its greatest strength.

Headquartered at Classis, Ovens, County Cork, Irish Aggregates Ltd. was established in 1988 by proprietors Tom and Mary Hickey. Though the family-run business boasts a relatively brief history, it has nonetheless been involved in many prestigious projects throughout Ireland in recent years.
As David confirms, it’s very much a nationwide service: “We have customers from Letterkenny back to Cork and everywhere in between. We also collect a lot of limestone in Northern Ireland.”

The Cork-headquartered company maintains a relatively new fleet

Where are the rest of the raw materials sourced? “We import most of them. Then we wash, mix and bag it, ready for delivery.”
Which brings us to the fleet: David oversees a convoy of twelve vehicles, mainly Volvo and Scania. He notes: “We have seven Volvo FH 460s and one Scania, a couple of FL10s and a couple of F10s. We have thirty trailers in total, six of which are fitted for Moffett Mounties.”
All the vehicles are purchased on a contract basis from McCarthy Commercials.
A relatively-new fleet is maintained, as David explains: “We have two 03s, a 00, a 99 and a few 96s. We don’t normally carry anything under 26 tonne, so it’s important to have a good reliable fleet at our disposal. The trailers are mostly curtainsiders, with a couple of tippers and a couple of flats.”

From left: John Dineen (driver), Tony Cummins (driver) and David Merrick (transport manager

Irish Aggregates Ltd. employs a total staff of almost 40 people, twelve of whom are full-time drivers. Most of these have been with the company for five years or longer, providing a continuity that’s vital in the haulage game.
All products are bagged in Irish Aggregates bags and are readily available in most good builder’s providers stores nationwide.
There are a lot of logistics involved and it’s vital to stay on top of things at all times: “When a driver sets off out of the yard, he could have up to ten or more calls to make before he returns to base. They might head off to the west on a Monday and they could have twelve or 13 calls to complete, and they might not return until the Wednesday with a backload from Northern Ireland or Dublin, so there’s quite a lot to take into consideration. But we’ve been at this for a long time now and we pride ourselves on our organisational skills.

Irish Aggregates maintains only the highest standards in every aspect of its operation

“We are very well organised and we strive to keep our standards up at all times. Last Easter we moved to a new eight-acre site and we have plenty of storage space here. We bring in boatloads of up to 5,000 tonnes at a time.”
Irish Aggregates stocks a range of dash (dry, wet, pebble, roughcast and tyrolean), coloured/external renders, decorative garden aggregates and landscaping materials (gravel, cobbles, rocks, boulders, paving slabs, rail sleepers, dry sand), building stone and grave décor.

Production and logistics are both met with a thoroughly professional approach.
The Cork-based company is committed to continually developing its product range to meet market demands. A state-of-the-art twin-line robotic bagging plant (the first of its kind in Ireland or the UK) enables swift and efficient washing, blending and bagging of a wide range of aggregates in 25kg and 40kg bags, one tonne bulk bags and 26 tonne bulk loads.
Irish Aggregates products can be put to a variety of uses, enhancing the appearance and adding to the character of houses, buildings, gardens, driveways, pathways, ponds etc.

Detailed distribution and fleet maintenance are just two of Irish Aggregates many strengths

All staff members are experienced, knowledgeable and willing to help in whatever way possible. Through daily interaction with builders, hardware merchants and landscapers, employees have up-to-date knowledge on the latest products and their most effective use and are trained to meet whatever technical and logistical needs a customer might have.
From its outstanding facility on the N22 on the outskirts of Cork city, through an immaculately preserved fleet, Irish Aggregates meets all delivery and project deadlines.

Prime location of its production facility allows convenient access to the national grid. Materials are sourced worldwide, predominantly from Spain, France, UK, Germany, Portugal and India. These are shipped to the port of Cork in 5000-tonne cargos, enabling the company to carry large stocks of its most popular products, ready for immediate delivery.
An extensive range of products and services includes quality materials (mixes and blends, washed and bagged), which are in turn stocked by the leading hardware merchants and builders providers throughout Ireland. Irish Aggregates’ modern fleet is on the road every day, with an average production-delivery time of three days.

Contact: Phone 021 4872733. Fax 021 4871705. email info@irishaggregates.ie or irishaggregates@eircom.net