About Us

Rawlplug Ireland Ltd. is a part of the Rawlplug Group, being a globally present manufacturer of fixing solutions and tools.

Rawlplug is actually responsible for the invention of the first wall plug and the first mechanical anchor to ever have been used. Our contemporary portfolio accounts for more than 30,000 products used in the vast area of construction, starting from roofwork, timber structures and gardening, including joinery, gates and fencing, facades, process installations, roads and bridges, steel, concrete and civil engineering structures, down to interior finishing and tools.

There are 11 product categories in our regular portfolio: bonded anchors, mechanical anchors, lightweight fixings, facade insulation fixings, roofing insulation fixings, passive fire protection system, foams and sealants, fasteners, direct fastening systems, power tools accessories, staplers, glue guns and accessories. And regardless of whether our products are used in construction sites of international investment projects or for household finishing works, we guarantee reliability and safety of all these solutions to all customers.

Our past is the foundation of our presence and future

Today, Rawlplug Ireland Ltd. is a part of an international group of companies operationally reaching to nearly all corners of the world. But our history began in the United Kingdom, just a stones throw away. It dates back to the year 1910 when John Joseph Rawlings, the company founder, was commissioned to renovate the British Museum building. Why is it so important? Because the task he was entrusted with went far beyond the technical capabilities of that day and age, since the intended installation of electrical systems was to be completed in a discreet way with as little disturbance as possible. That is when John Rawlings came up with his revolutionary idea – the first ever wall plug!

The wall plug according to Rawlings’s design was made of jute fibres soaked in a mixture of animal blood and glue. Once it had been placed in a manually drilled hole, the fibre tube expanded under the pressure of the bolt driven in, which increased the thrust from within the hole. This enabled various elements to be fixed to walls without disturbing the wall structure or destroying the plaster.

The invention was so revolutionary that it quickly advanced to be applied on multiple occasions in the vast area of the construction industry.

This event marked the very beginning of the Rawlplug brand, officially registered in 1912. This has evolved to become synonymous with modernity, safety and reliability. As the company name changed from Rawlplug Brothers to The Rawlplug Company Ltd., the new era of the fixing industry started, not only based on manufacture and distribution of products, but also on genuine product-specific and technical consulting.

Rawlplug has been working for 100 years to build its image of an unquestionable expert. And even though the company owners changed over decades of its history, we have always kept the promise given to our customers – to deliver state-of-the-art solutions they can trust.

We are glad to be able to continuously build on this proud heritage at Rawlplug Ltd.

Our comprehensive product portfolio is extended with complementary services rendered to professionals

Rawlplug Ireland Ltd. delivers professional and highly specialised tools dedicated to engineers and designers, which provide them with adequate and comprehensive support on every level of project implementation. EasyFix, BIM Rawlplugor the Technical Library are only some of the solutions we offer. Keywords linked with target sites (for the entire italicised “section”).

We never forget about distributors who can also count on our full support. We have a team of engineers and specialists at their disposal, and they gladly provide all the help needed at training seminars and workshops concerning both the selection and the application of our products. Our portfolio is complemented with an innovative product display system, fully adaptable to any space and specificity of sales points.

We know what truly matters in our line of business, and that is customer orientation

In terms of product distribution, the current structure of Rawlplug Ireland Ltd. is dedicated to 3 key target groups:

DIY, i.e. large-area chain construction stores
Trade & Technical, i.e. stand-alone or chain building depots and other stores specialised in such activities as provisions for large investments
OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) whom we supply with fixing solutions that they incorporate as built-in components integrated with their own building systems

Each market segment is serviced by a dedicated team, highly specialised in just the field of expertise which is needed in the given area and responsible for business relationships and sales consultancy. It is for such an approach that our clients can receive customised service and availability whenever they need it.

We also believe that it is important to provide access to training, technical advisory or testing capabilities not only to representatives of our distributors, but also to their clients.

Engineers and designers form a separate group of customers scrupulously serviced by our Technical Department – genuine experts in the field, responsible for comprehensive technical consultancy, including preparation of specific calculations required for the given project or investment to be completed. The Technical Department of Rawlplug Ireland Ltd. may count on strong support from Rawlplug’s engineering team based at the head office.

Working at Rawlplug Ireland Ltd., we are continuously involved in development of product distribution channels. Striving to respond to market expectations and willing to increase the comfort, quality and efficiency of customer service even further, we have enabled product ordering via the highly advanced eCommerce platform.

Our team combines experience with openness to innovation

Our entire team is composed of actual experts in the field of fixing solutions. They are industry professionals with many years of experience in the vast area of construction engineering who have spent their whole professional life in close proximity of clients, never waiving any challenge at hand.

The close collaboration and experience exchange between designers, contractors, salespeople and the international Rawlplug team turn the solutions we propose into genuine advisory. While we support them, we always apply best practices, bearing in mind all steps they make in contact with our products, starting from design to end up with operation. That is why we have decided to rely on British Standard BS:8539 at work, and our recommendations are based on real-life matching between the actual needs and the environment, safety, reliability and quality aspects.

On top of that, we wish our relationships with customers not only to be fully professional and business oriented, but also cordial, friendly and based on dialogue. And although each of our clients has different needs and is convinced of being most important, which we obviously understand, they are all equally relevant to us and we try to treat them all exceptionally. We are there for our customers, displaying flexibility in everyday contacts, since not only do we perceive them as clients, but primarily as human beings.

Our history

Our company was established back in 1924 in Dublin, under the name of Metallurgy Limited. At that time, we were an engineering, merchant and import business. Fasteners and fixings formed our main range, but we were also selling many other products at the time. The company was renamed to Rawlplug Ireland Ltd. in October 1969, but the head office continued to be located in Dublin. Since that time, the company has changed owners several times, which often led to the need to move the headquarters. Currently, our offices are located in Drogheda, 30 miles to the north of Dublin, and only 20 km from Dublin Airport. Our current range includes fasteners and fixings, nuts and bolts, fillers, drill bits, stapling systems, garden tools, as well as Yale door hardware.

Our team

We have offices and a warehouse in Drogheda. Our team is composed of 27 dedicated professionals who work at the office, in the field and in our warehouse. The sales team is composed of 11 people, including 8 sales representatives and 3 merchandisers who are in charge of displaying the products at our customers’ points of sale. The sales force is responsible for selling across Ireland. The remaining teams in our company are responsible for Customer Service, Controlling, Purchases, and Warehouse management (9 people). Cormac Farrell is the Managing Director.

Our values

Our customers are our top priority, hence our main philosophy: the customer comes first. Quality products and quality customer service are inextricably linked. We offer our customers full support, including with regard to merchandising. We are constantly in touch with our customers, and in 2018 we have launched a project that offers them full technical support. John Devoy, an experienced engineer, will be in charge of this area. We work hard to build close relations with our customers. Eventually, some of them even become our friends: we meet their friends and families, as well as learn about their passions.

“For some of our customers, we are like family, and we are the ones they call to share good or bad news. Once, a customer called me just to tell me that his wife was expecting triplets. He just needed to tell someone.” said Cormac Farrell.

In our team, we seek to build a friendly, collaborative environment, and we oppose any kind of discrimination. The current team members have been with us for many years, and everyone is absolutely committed to what they do for Rawlplug. When a crisis hit the construction market towards the end of the 2000–2009 decade, everyone showed a lot of understanding and even agreed to a reduction of their salaries to keep the company going. “Over the recent years, we have been very good to our employees, and they are repaying us with their loyalty. It’s as simple as that,” said Cormac Farrell.

Our offering

We offer the following products and services under the Rawlplug brand to the Irish market:

Fasteners and fixings: Bonded Anchors, Mechanical Anchors, Lightweight Fixings, Facade Insulation Fixings, and Roofing Insulation Fixings.
Tools: Tools from the “Direct Fastening Systems” catalogue, Power Tool Accessories, Stapling, Tacking and Gluing products.
Services: technical support and merchandising.

Additionally, our offering includes Yale door hardware, Centurion warning signs, and Modeco garden tools.

Our customers

Our Sales Representatives are constantly on the road, selling to DIY chains, builders’ merchants and to OEM customers. Our DIY customers include Woodies, and examples of builders’ merchants are Wogan Build Centre and Murdock Builders Merchants. Profast, a distributor of premium products for professional users, is also an interesting customer.

We focus our activity on sales, but we need to offer much more than just exquisite products on a market as competitive as ours. This is why we also offer quick and efficient customer service: there is always someone there willing to help you, Monday to Friday, in the company’s business hours. On top of that, we are the only ones in the industry offering merchandising services at our customers’ shops across the country, as well as technical support and training during events at the customer’s location. The events we offer include breakfast presentations which allow customers to find out about the advantages of our products in an informal atmosphere, over a mug of coffee and a bacon sandwich, and to take advantage of special deals and promotional offers, valid only until the end of the respective event; other events include open days, for instance. We encourage you to find out more details about our company’s operation and about the people working in our teams. This is important for us, since we know that our strength lies precisely in our teams.

Sales | The Sales Team is the largest team in our company. It employs 8 Sales Managers in charge of providing service to existing customers, acquiring new ones, attending various events at the customers’ locations, as well as participating in trade fairs organised by our partners, such as the Irish Hardware Association. Our Sales Managers travel around the whole country. They visit regular customers and prospects, making sure that all deliveries reach them in due time. The team includes four Merchandisers who help the customers place the products appropriately in the shops. Their main tasks include checking deliveries, placing the products in the shop, checking the placement with regard to the planogram in order to ensure the maximum revenue from the given shop space, checking correctness of product information and cleanliness of the shelves, as well as performing the final check together with the shop manager.

Technical Support | Our technical team is not very large, but we are capable of offering the following services:

consultancy with regard to anchor design and selection;

consultancy with regard to the recommended applications of our products;
recommendations with regard to fasteners and fixings.

Currently, only one engineer supports the work of the sales team, and his duties include providing customer support and conducting hands-on training at existing and prospective customers’ locations.

Our best practices

One of our best practices consists in our commitment to provide high quality merchandising services. We know how helpful this is for our customers, i.e. the shops, and the end consumers, when it comes to finding the right product. The shops appreciate the fact that nothing is sold in bulk and that we are capable of delivering the items packaged in bags or otherwise bundled, because this makes it much easier to check inventory levels. Another good practice involves shipment within 24 hours in the Dublin area. It is worth adding that some of the warehouse workers also deliver ordered products, allowing us to meet lead times in our area and control them better.