Galway’s Castle Group wins Local Business of the Year award from The Irish Times

DCM Editorial Summary: This story has been independently rewritten and summarised for DCM readers to highlight key developments relevant to the region. Original reporting by Irish Times, click this post to read the original article.

Irish construction company Castle Group has won the Local Business of the Year award, which is run in association with Bank of Ireland and is part of The Irish Times Business Awards.

The company received the gong at the eighth annual Irish Times Business Awards on Thursday night.

Castle Group pipped four other companies to take the award. The other contenders were food group Loughnane’s of Galway, retailer Furey Smyth Group, hotel chain Address Collective, and Meath-based Hanley Energy.

Galway-based Castle Group was founded by Seamus Brady in 1999 driven by what the company describes as a “childhood-inspired dream”. The business specialises in fit-outs, modular construction, and facilities management.

Receiving the award, Brady said his employees are the “cornerstones” behind the business. He said the company took a “big step back” during the pandemic and pivoted towards sustainability.

It contributed to construction projects for clients such as biopharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb, was part of the fit-out of Kylemore Abbey, and the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland.

Castle Group was also subcontracted by Sisk for work on the fit-out of University Hospital Limerick as well as the Bon Secours Hospital in Limerick.

Other clients have included Center Parcs Longford, Boston Scientific, Google, Holiday Inn, Intel and MSD.

The group employs more than 350 staff and has delivered more than 200 modular housing units for Ukrainian refugees, with support from Bank of Ireland.

The company’s workforce at its modular construction division has doubled in the past 12 months, and a second production facility has been opened in Gort.

In its most recent filings, one of the group’s companies SB Castle Contracting Ltd saw revenue of €44.5 million for 2024. Retained earnings at the company, of which Seamus and Kathy Brady each own 50 per cent, were €14.7 million.

The awards were presented at an event at the Round Room at the Mansion House in Dublin on Thursday evening. The awards are run in association with Bank of Ireland and the winners were chosen by a panel of judges, chaired by Microsoft executive Anne Sheehan.