2024 Year in Review

It’s that time of year again when we like to reflect and take stock of what has happened over the last 12 months. This year was particularly poignant as the company celebrated its 20^th anniversary of providing M & E services in this wonderful part of the country. 

Products & Services

In 2024 we continued to enhance the range of services on offer. 

Firstly, our move into the renewables market gained further momentum. In April, we achieved full industry accreditation for Air Source Heat Pump installations and obtained our first Boiler Upgrade Scheme Grant on behalf of one of our clients. Our Solar PV certification was successfully renewed and the engineers completed a number of Electric Vehicle Charger installations. The business is looking to grow its Renewables offering in 2025; with this in mind keep an eye out for the new Quinns Renewables website which will be going live in January!  

The Construction Team has also grown in size this year – the company now has a full range of disciplines to support our M & E projects and offer an office refurbishment service. However, its main thrust has been the move into providing a fully accredited Fire Stopping service and we welcomed some specialists in this area. 2025 promises to be an exciting time for this integral part of the business. 

Despite these new ventures, the core business remains the delivery of our M & E projects. This constant source of work on vital sites in and around the area is never taken for granted and the company remains committed to providing a fully accredited and compliant range of services to our loyal and valued client base.  

Employees

It goes without saying that business could not perform as it does without our excellent team of engineers and office staff. This applies equally to our longer serving personnel and to those we have been delighted to welcome this year.   

In 2024, we welcomed seven new members to the team with two more due to start in January. This is a marked increase in staff numbers  from the same period last year which reflects our growth strategy. There is also a pool of sub-contractors who work with us all year round and remain an invaluable source of support for the business.   

Staff retention and welfare is at the heart of what we are looking to achieve. The directors continue to assess how we can build on the package and benefits we offer whilst embracing the recent legislation changes in employee rights. The annual Staff Appraisal system is also  embedded into the process where we have encouraged staff involvement in discussions over pay, training and career progression. The comprehensive Staff Handbook introduced in 2024 will be updated for next year and will include the revised Grading System and Pay Bands.  

It was also another strong year for our Apprentices. Four achieved full qualification in 2024, a fresh cohort should get over the line in 2025 and we were delighted to welcome two new starters back in September.  Our Apprentice Scheme remains an immense source of pride for the business.   

Kris and the directors would like to express a huge depth of gratitude to all the staff for their efforts and loyalty in 2024 and we look forward to our Christmas Drinks later this month. 

Challenges & Ambitions! 

The company did face some significant headwinds in 2024 which we worked hard to overcome. A new Government, changes to Employee rights, a run of bad luck with our fleet of vans, a couple of long-term absentees plus an ever increasing number of audits meant the business had to work even harder to achieve our aims. Despite all this, we have managed to take on more work than ever before, embarked on a huge re-piping project and still achieved deadlines to keep our clients on board.  

Challenges are of course part and parcel of running an SME but these will not stand in our way going forward. In 2025, the company is looking to continue its expansion and diversification and Kris will be making an exciting announcement in January concerning our ambitions for the New Year. This will include an internal restructure of the business designed to improve efficiencies and aimed at making sure we continue to deliver for our clients and cover all their M & E requirements- watch this space!!    

Summary

It’s only when you take a step back and reflect on the year that we realise just how much has been achieved. We sincerely hope that all the groundwork put into our continuous improvement will bear fruit in 2025 and beyond. 

In the meantime, on behalf of our MD Kris Quinn, Quinns M & E would like to wish all our clients, suppliers and partners and stakeholders a wonderful Christmas, a prosperous New Year and a huge thank you for your unwavering support.