Horgan/Renault: A winning combination

Mike Horgan Commercials is renowned for providing an excellent service in specialised recovery and repair work to all vehicles used in the haulage industry, while the Kerry based firm have added a new string to the bow, having taken up the Renault dealership for the area.

Renault trucks have become a major seller in the market

The company was established in 1995 and is situated on the Abbeyfeale road in Knocknagoshel, where a wide section of maintenance work is carried out on heavy and light commercials and trailers. Mike has always been involved in selling used vehicles and six months ago, he became the main Renault dealer in the area.
Having always dabbled in the second hand market, Mike now has a wide range of brand new vehicles on show at his premises and he revealed that sales were going very well.

“Since we started selling Renault six months ago, it has been going really well. The new Renault Premium has been selling very well and it is certainly rivalling other marques in that category,” said Mike.
“I always sold trucks, but they were second hand and I usually brought them in from Europe. Over the years I built up a network of contacts and if a customer came to me, I could usually get what he wanted within a few weeks. However, now I’m concentrating more on the new dealership and hopefully that will continue in the future.”
A qualified mechanic, Mike has years of experience in the industry and admitted that it was a huge decision to branch out on his own, but certainly one that he does not regret doing.

Horgan�s have a wide selection of vehicles to choose from

“I had a lot of thought put in to it before I started out and I also had a lot of the equipment already and was working at home in the evenings, which helped when I finally decided to go out on my own.”
Mike admitted that the role of a mechanic had changed dramatically since he first introduced to the trade as technology has taken over maintenance.
“If someone had said to me a few years back that mechanics would need a computer to fix a truck, I would have laughed at them, but that is the case now. I’ve done a lot of courses in diagnostics and have the equipment here for a few years now.

“All the lads here have to go on courses regularly to keep up to speed with the latest changes and that often means the courses could be in Dublin, the UK or sometimes Holland.”
Mike Horgan Commercials operate eight vehicles of which the majority are recovery vehicles and service vans. Operating on a 24-hr service means that the vans must be fully equipped.

A new bulk container ready for delivery

“The vans are fully stocked at all times and often there is more stuff in them than there would be at the yard,” he joked. “I buy most of the recovery trucks in the UK and have various sizes to cover all range of vehicles in the industry.”
Despite having a large customer base, Mike revealed that they have no contracts signed up with any one firm, but admitted there a few customers that have been with them for many years.
“We have been doing a lot of work for the gardai over the years, while we also do some work for the council, while McCarthy Commercials in Cork avail of our services too.”

Providing a top quality service is the key to increasing the customer base and Mike revealed that their list covers a wide range of operators.
“Apart from the likes of the gardai, the council and McCarthy Commercials, we also have hauliers involved in local, national or continental work who come to us for maintenance and repair work. Fortunately, we must be doing something right as they keep using us,” he said modestly.
Mike admits that the company would not be as successful were it not for his reliable and highly trained staff that pride themselves on turning out quality work.

Horgan�s supply many hauliers with their trucks

“The staff has increased from five to 14 in the last few years such is the volume of work that we have on and I have to say I’m very pleased with the quality of work that they produce. They are all reliable and when given a job, they have no problem in doing it. All are sent on regular courses for training and that helps keep up to date with the latest changes.”
Such is the reputation of Mike Horgan Commercials that advertising for work is something that Mike has not had to do and he believes word of mouth is the best practice.
“I’ve never been one for advertising much. I suppose the customers we have are happy with us and they’ve told other customers, basically that is how the business grew.”
He also revealed that he has expanded the site to deal with the volume of vehicles passing through and stressed that a new workshop will be needed in the near future.

“We will have to build a complete new workshop shortly to cater for all the work, especially now that we have the Renault dealership, there is a lot more trucks knocking around the place. The main aim is to continue providing the service we do and we’ll take things from there.”