Truwood – a leader among bespoke specialist joinery manufacturers

As a second-generation business, Truwood has ridden the Celtic Tiger wave of Irish development through more challenging and recessionary times, all the while building a reputation for excellent work across the interior fit-out spectrum, both in Ireland and overseas.  

Over a welcome coffee in the meeting room, I listen to Emmet talking about the company’s formative years. The genesis of the business turns out, as it quite often does, to be in the garage of the very building we can see from the meeting room window! It is still Emmet’s father’s house today, well maintained and crisply bright in the morning sun. It was there in 1981 that Philip McKenna, and Emmet’s uncle Al McKenna, laid the foundations for what has become one of Ireland’s finest and most respected bespoke furniture and joinery businesses.

Naturally, it all began on a small-scale designing and manufacturing domestic kitchens, wardrobes and the like for local customers. Soon after this progressed into fitting out local pubs and bars. Moving into the 90s, and the upsurge in the Irish pub concept, on a global scale, Truwood manufactured and fitted out Irish pubs in the US, Spain, France, Germany, Japan, Iraq & Hong Kong to name just a few.  

While the Irish pub project is not in as much demand as it once was, some of the owners, developers and designers that Truwood worked with on these past projects continue to this day with their work on new projects in hotels, resorts, pubs, bars and restaurants of all kinds all over the world.

Today Truwood’s work takes in large scale hospitality and commercial projects, retail, leisure and tourism, public works, and healthcare in both new build and refurbishment projects, partnering with many of the main contractors in the construction industry, as well as architects, designers, and clients directly.

Throughout its history, Truwood has manufactured bespoke joinery of the highest quality from its spacious and well organised factory, and that is really evident when visiting the facility today. 

LEAN processes implemented at Truwood have led to the adoption of Stage Gate project management principles, where every project is afforded a dedicated project management team who works closely with the client to ensure the project runs smoothly.

Equipped with advanced equipment, machinery and skilled craftspeople, Truwood sources wood and materials from all over the world to ensure the highest quality finish possible, building each bespoke project in its factory.

Combined with an advanced project management program, the skills and capabilities Truwood deploys, equates to shorter lead times, quicker responses, and of course, the consistently high standard of quality for which Truwood is renowned for.

Truwood’s people are something that the company is rightly proud of, and the company believes that a high-quality team is key to a high-quality product. From modest beginnings, Truwood has expanded its workforce to over 50 employees today and is still growing. An impressive 40% of the team has been with Truwood for more than ten years with two employees having been with the company for over thirty years – see sidebar. Staffing and staff retention is a very important part of the company’s long-term success. As Emmet says: “We endeavour to train, develop and retain our employees in order to constantly achieve the high standards that we have become synonymous for. We are also fully committed to helping the environment and we recognise the huge impact they can have on it.

“We are committed to protecting the environment by using timber sourced from responsibly and sustainably managed forests and to preventing pollution. Truwood is fully compliant with all environmental legislation and requirements, and it has developed targets and action plans to help improve its environmental performance.”   

“Truwood’s work takes in large scale hospitality and commercial projects, retail, leisure and tourism, public works, and healthcare in both new build and refurbishment projects, partnering with many of the main contractors in the construction industry, as well as architects, designers, and clients directly”

The kinds of current work moving through the Truwood factory is a mix between hospitality in the US, distilleries in Scotland, commercial and high-end residential fit-outs in the domestic market and data centres across Europe. Of course this is just a generalisation, as on my factory tour I noted a large canopy under construction atop the outline of a superstructure the company is creating for a confessional installation at a local church. 

Last year Truwood achieved exports of almost 20% and Emmet and the team are putting much effort and resources into trying to continue the development of its existing international contacts and relationships, as well as pro-actively initiating new opportunities overseas.

Of course, setting your stall out as a bespoke manufacture sounds glamorous and exciting, but the reality is that no two jobs are the same. As Emmet says though, that can be to your strength: “I suppose one of our key USPs is that we’re able to take what the designer and/or architect is trying to achieve, and build it in a functional, practical way, and to that high quality that they’re expecting. 

“What underpins this is that we have very knowledgeable and highly capable employees and they’re able to, through teamwork and collaboration, solve pretty much any challenge or problem that we come up against.”

Transitions haven’t been easy as our skillsets at the outset was primarily boxes and cabinets but we quickly mastered the required capability to deliver a varying range of projects with a much wider range of materials than we had been used to. This strong mindset has served us well down the years though – we have a very skilled craftsman-level workforce, which is key when we don’t run a standard production line where it’s just the same thing going through every time, every item is different, every project is different and we always meet the clients’ requirements and timelines. That’s what we do,” says Emmet.

A quick tour around the spacious factory floor shows a committed plan of investment into good quality technology, again to help the business deliver above and beyond for its clients. 

Recent investments include a Biesse CNC nesting achine supplied by Maginn Machinery, and more recently an on-tool high pressure extraction system for fine dust working across all the hand tools, including chop saws, routers, orbital sanders and so on – installed by BEAM Central Systems from Northern Ireland at the beginning of the year.  

There are further plans to invest in a new five-axis CNC Pod and Rail machine and an automated edgebander which allow higher capacities, and the company is hoping to place orders for these in the coming months. 

“As part of the normal process, Truwood run their own apprenticeship programme and currently have six apprentices at different stages of development”

Occupying a central position in one zone of the vast L-shaped production area is a manual spray booth and automatic finishing system with automatic temperature and humidity control which was put in just over four years ago. The automated line is for series work such wall panelling, ceiling panels and other components in larger quantities. Alongside the automated line, within the structure, is a manual spray booth for more bespoke pieces, and although the factory is clean, tidy and well organised, the drying chamber helps keep the work as dust-free as possible to keep any re-working of finishing to a minimum.  

As part of the company’s future, Truwood are working on plans for the extension to square off the footprint of the building in the near future to create additional production capacity as well as raising the standard of the office spaces and provide room to grow. There are also plans to enhance the staff rest areas with communal areas, a gym, changing rooms and showers.

This extension and refurbishment programme is part of the company’s growth strategy for the coming years. Emmet says that its five-to-ten development year strategy will see the capacity of the factory grow by around 50%. Emmet asserts that this will be on the hospitality and high-end residential sectors.

As part of the normal process, Truwood run their own apprenticeship programme and currently have six apprentices at different stages of development, Emmet favours this approach: ‘as it helps us instil the Truwood way by training them in-house.’

The various skill sets of the experienced Truwood team bear fruit in many ways, for instance with challenges from customers whose ideas sometimes raise eyebrows.

“We’ve never once said to an architect, it’s not possible,” says Emmet, “you know, that is probably the one thing you can say about Truwood, no matter how wacky a design, no matter how out-there the concept is, we will find a solution to achieve what you want.”

A recent example of this was a reception desk and a feature ceiling for Yahoo’s offices in Dublin.

“They wanted an illuminated desk and feature ceiling, okay, well the ceiling needed to be illuminated and the desk needed to match with it. It was a tough job, apart from getting the illumination to work and everything else, every single piece of Perspex in the desk was different, it’s truly unique.

“Working on something like that is a challenge of course, but it is also hugely rewarding in terms of how it pushes us, and that’s where our skills are, each of those jobs tests you and pushes you, and of course then you have the skills and experience in your armoury. It’s challenge, but then there’s a learning.”

www.truwood.ie

Long serving staff

DERMOT McKENNA, TRU - LEFT

“So I’m also here 30 years this year as well. Michael and I worked with Emmet’s father for a number of years and then the business was handed over to Emmet and then Laura and Ross.

“The business has gone from strength to strength in recent times and has been modernised and produces very high quality work with a very good and long-standing reputation.

“It was all kitchens and wardrobes in the early days and over time we got into making and fitting-out pubs and bars was a big part of what we did at that time. We also did the fit-outs – all over the place. We went to London, America, Spain, Italy, Japan, all over. Some of that work lasted from 6-12 weeks, away from home. It was hard work, but enjoyable and rewarding.

“In terms of abiding memories, it’s probably just the close-knitness of it all. Philip and Al would have been very much shoulder to the wheel and out along with the boys and grafting as well to get a job ready.

“It’s always been a very close-knit family-run business, good people to work for, always very well looked after. It is a job of course, but you’re working for and with people you trust really – and they trust you, so that’s it.

“The company has a long-term plan, and the management’s always very good with sharing their plans going forward – it’s good for everyone to know that there’s always going to be work here – and they’re expanding and getting into different areas with new jobs coming down the track, it looks really great.”

MICHAEL MONAGHAN, TYRONE - RIGHT

“I’ve worked a Truwood for over 30 years. I started as a joiner and then worked up to production manager and now I’m technical manager.

“I help to ensure everything that’s made has to be thorough and to plan. We get the architect’s plans and convert that over to the way we see it being made. I converse with the QSs and speak to the team that’s putting it together and get it made most effectively and make sure it’s totally fit for purpose.”

One of Michael’s favourite recent jobs was the award-winning work for the first Center Parks in Ireland. “It was probably seven, eight years ago – that was a big award we won and I was production manager at that time. It was very big effort from Truwood, just the whole fit-out, we had 14 packages in total, including restaurants, bars and even the sauna, it was a substantial and important job for us.”

www.truwood.ie