MW Hire was established in the late 1990s by Matty Walsh. Matty grew up on the family dairy farm in Co Kilkenny where he gained his hands-on work ethic which he still employs in the business today.

After graduating with his Green Cert from Rockwell College in 1989, Matty returned home to the farm. In 1990, his passion for machinery came to the fore and he set up an agri contracting business, purchasing his first two machines – a slurry tanker and agitator.

Over the next decade, Matty slowly expanded his machinery range and the services he offered to local farmers by purchasing tillage equipment and silage-harvesting machinery.

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Matty recalls the biggest milestone in his agri-contracting business was the purchase of an umbilical slurry system, which was one of only three in Ireland at the time. This new venture allowed him to travel the country and make new contacts he still uses today.

In 1997, the Lisheen lead and zinc mine near to where Matty is located started its construction. This gave Matty an opportunity to add a new aspect to his business by hiring diesel-powered water pumps to different building contractors involved in the construction project. At the time, Matty didn’t realise it, but this was the start of what was to become MW Hire.

Once the construction of Lisheen mine was completed, the building contractors moved on to their next projects, which included the Limerick, Kildare and Bunratty bypasses.

Because MW provided such a good service, the contractors continued to work with them on their other jobs. This allowed MW to grow to over 600 machines in the next eight years.

In May 2003, Matty reached a crossroads and had to make the decision to stop the agri contracting and concentrate solely on MW Hire, as it was really starting to gain momentum.

It was also in 2003 that MW started to deal in plant machinery, buying and selling equipment.

It has since grown to become one of Ireland’s largest dealers of used plant machinery, selling machines all over Ireland, as well as exporting all across Europe, Africa, America, Australia and New Zealand.

Today, MW Hire is Ireland’s largest privately owned rental company with three depots in Ireland, two in Kilkenny and one in Wexford.

MW is also in the process of expanding into the UK, constructing a purpose-built facility in Scotland, which will be finished in March of next year.

These depots cover over 11 acres in total and are home to an impressive array of machinery, which includes up to 100 excavators, 80 teleporters, 250 water pumps, 40 dumpers, 200 lighting towers, 100 compactor rollers and 300 access equipment at any one time for sale or hire dependant on the customer’s requirements.

On top of this, MW provides fuel storage solutions and on-site accommodations in the form of canteens and toilets. MW is also the main agent in Ireland for Cummins Generators and Garic site accommodation solutions.

In total, MW has more than 8,000 pieces of equipment at any one time. Keeping track of all that equipment is no mean feat and is taken care of by a state-of-the-art computer system, as well as a small army of 45 to 75 staff, depending on the time of year.

MW has also recently diversified from the machinery business and set up an IPAF training facility in Wexford, where people go to receive industry-recognised training on access equipment and its operation. MW is also involved in environmental projects such as wind farms.

Since its establishment, MW Hire has grown to an annual turnover of between €15m and €16m, of which between €6m and €8m is reinvested into new machines.

Every year, up to 500 new machines are purchased in order to provide customers with a high level of efficiency and reliability. These machines are kept in the hire fleet for between 10 and 30 months before being sold either here in Ireland or exported overseas.

When purchasing equipment, Matty tells me that he sticks to the global brands, as this makes them much more desirable on the secondhand market and therefore easier to sell.

So how does a business grow to this size? Matty explains: “It’s simple. We provide a good reliable service to our customers, we are not cheap, but supply a quality service and because we have so much equipment in stock, we are a one-stop shop for customers and building contractors. We are not hungry for work and employ no sales reps. Instead, we use the internet and marketing, which we find is the best solution for us.”

So what makes the man behind the company that bears his name tick? “I am the same man I always have been. I have never changed. I make a point of being on the ground, answering the phones and meeting customers. My business is founded on relationships and that is the most important thing to me,” explains Matty.

Finally I asked him what he would say to someone aspiring to get to where he is. “My motto in business is never take your foot off the throttle, keep going and takes chances. For every good decision I have made, I have made even more bad ones, but you need to be resilient and keep going.”