From sustainability to apprenticeships: Dornan Group’s Managing Director discusses investments in the company’s operations
Dornan Group (Dornan), a Turner Company, has established itself as a major mechanical and electrical (M&E), and HVAC engineering and construction company through its extensive project experience across various sectors in Europe. Whether these projects consist of building state-of-the-art data centres or life sciences facilities, the company consistently delivers the best results for its clients. Thanks to a culture of hard work, honest advice, and supportive teams, led by straight talking visionaries, Dornan is shaping the future of engineering and driving the industry forward.
“Next year, Dornan will turn 60 years old, having started its life as a traditional M&E business in the life sciences and industrial sectors in Ireland. Life sciences has had a base in Ireland for the last 60-to-70 years, which effectively enabled Dornan to grow alongside that sector over that period. Over the last few years, the business has enjoyed so much steady growth that five years ago, its revenue was about €365 million and last year, it exceeded €700 million. At the beginning of 2025, Dornan’s backlog is more than €1.6 billion,” opens Micheál O’Connor, Group Managing Director. 
Increased scope
“While our roots are still anchored in traditional M&E, the data centre sector has also contributed to our exceptional growth. At just over ten years old, the data centre sector is still relatively new and evolving, and we were fortunate to enter it early enough for us to grow in line with it. In recent years, some of our clients in this segment have asked us to expand our services beyond M&E, so we now offer general contracting (GC) as well. Notably, one of our clients follows a two tier general contracting model. GC1 would focus on site infrastructure development and effectively build the shed, shell and core. Then the GC2 phase is responsible for performing the entire fit-out of the previously constructed shed. This is the scope (GC2) that Dornan is now delivering, encompassing floor finishes, partitions, ceilings, doors, internal finishes, and more, thus dramatically increasing our revenue and scope,” he adds.
Exploring new avenues
In January 2025, New York-based Turner Construction (Turner) completed the acquisition of Dornan, making it a Turner company. Micheál explains how this will positively impact Dornan’s operations. “The integration is moving forward seamlessly as Turner particularly appreciates our company, our operations, and our business model. Consequently, it will aim to continue supporting and growing our existing business model without interfering with our established practices. Turner will help us expand into sectors where there is a significant potential for growth, such as the general contracting market for data centres. As part of Turner, we will be empowered to explore new avenues like electrochemical batteries, hydrogen, green energy, and related sectors. In January 2025, all our staff had the opportunity to interact with Turner’s leadership team during an all-hands town hall. More than 200 attended the meeting in person and the majority of people participated online. As a result of this positive experience, our employees were reassured that both their careers and the business will be in safe hands going forward,” he affirms.
Even prior to its acquisition by Turner, Dornan has always been committed to reinvesting within the business to enhance operations and ensure its long-term sustainability. Micheál discloses the company’s core investment areas and the criteria guiding the decision-making process for these investments. “In line with our focus on innovation, we made a strategic investment in an off-site assembly facility in Coventry a few years back, making us one of the forerunners in off-site manufacturing. In the following years, we began undertaking many modular construction projects. For example, we completed a life sciences project in Ireland two years ago, involving the installation of 380 modules. We are delighted to have been part of this scheme, which was the first of its kind. Furthermore, we have been working closely with some of our data centre clients to streamline the construction of data centre projects by heavily modularising them. Through these projects, we are actively involved in both the engineering and manufacturing of the modules.
“To support the modularisation of construction, we have made substantial investments in our engineering group, which has expanded in both headcount and technology in recent years. Having a robust engineering capability is crucial for ensuring that the modules are engineered accurately, a key factor for success in modular construction. This process involves substituting stick-built components of a project and replacing them with modular components transported from another location for assembly into the on-site facility. When these components are brought to the site, our planning ensures they fit properly. Consequently, we have made sizeable investments in the UK, particularly focusing on modularising various elements, notably within high-rise commercial and office buildings in London. Our experience shows that our investment in modularisation results in improvements in schedules and safety. We have established a strong foothold in the modular sector, and we are dedicated to making it a cornerstone of our operations while transferring this expertise into the life sciences and data centre markets,” he emphasises.
The Dornan Academy
The construction and civil engineering industries rely greatly on skilled workers, whose scarcity makes business difficult for many companies. Dornan proactively addresses this important issue by taking the training of skilled labour in its own hands. “We have invested significantly in learning and development within the organisation. We have since created the Dornan Academy, our pride and joy, enabling us to offer a large number of learning hours per annum and a wide variety of courses available both online and in person for all our personnel. The learning program is backed by a strong online platform within the business for everyone to access.
Women @ Dornan
“Additionally, we operate an apprenticeship scheme under the Dornan Academy, a core investment focus for us. These apprenticeships will avail of a centre of excellence in Cork, Ireland. We also invest in and engage with schools to try and increase the diversity of people joining our industry and our business. Indeed, we strive to encourage more women to join the industry and destigmatise the trades by dispelling misconceptions about trades. Moreover, there is a very good living and career to be made in these trades. To amplify our efforts, we have set up a committee exclusively dedicated to Women @ Dornan, with an allocated budget. Our aim is to enhance the working experience of women in our company while simultaneously attracting more female workers to our team. Once they become part of the Dornan family, we continuously assist them in the development of their career paths with us. This particular investment is something I have personally sponsored and am very proud of,” Micheál unveils.
Turning to the topic of sustainability, Micheál sheds light on the various initiatives Dornan has implemented to become greener. “Environmental responsibility is at the heart of our priorities and investments. To oversee the environmental aspect of our operations, we have hired qualified individuals in the business, such as consultants and a Sustainability Manager. We have conducted a full analysis of our environmental impact and carbon emissions. We are now launching a program designed to boost sustainability and reduce our carbon footprint. Beyond that, we have undertaken a double materiality exercise in 2024, which will effectively underpin our future strategy,” he informs.
Future outlook
Before concluding our discussion, Micheál is keen to outline his aspirations for Dornan’s long-term future. “Looking five years down the line, I believe our focus will remain on supporting our existing clients as a traditional M&E contractor across our current sectors including life sciences, commercial, healthcare, education, and data centres. Growing our additional general contracting services to cater to our life sciences and data centre clients as and when they need them will also be paramount. Expanding our reach and diversifying into battery, clean energy, hydrogen, and other evolving sectors is also on the agenda. In terms of geographical footprint, we are poised to sustain our strong operational presence in Ireland, the UK, and Central Europe, although we expect to see our geographical base extend to southern parts of Europe to align with our clients who are moving into those areas. We are already beginning to witness an increase in data centre construction in southern Europe as cooling technology develops, so we strive to follow our clients into those regions and continue to serve them just as we have in the past,” he ends.
As Dornan gets ready to celebrate its 60th anniversary, becoming a Turner company marks a significant milestone, signalling a new era of growth and expansion. Empowered by Turner’s expertise and resources, the company is primed to make waves in new avenues, such as the emerging fields of electrochemical batteries, hydrogen, and green energy.