This year, Suretank proudly marks its 30th anniversary, celebrating three decades of engineering innovation, resilience, and growth. Founded in 1995 in Dundalk, Ireland, the company has evolved from a small workshop to a global leader in both modular and offshore solutions across multiple industries. From its early days in offshore oil and gas to its expansion into pharma, renewables, and data centres, Suretank has continuously adapted to industry changes while staying true to its core engineering expertise.

To mark this milestone, we sat down with Martin Winters, Managing Director of Suretank, to discuss the company’s journey, lessons learned, and what the future holds.

Martin, take us back to the early days of Suretank. How did it all begin?

Suretank started in 1995 in a small, rented workshop in Dundalk with just 10 to 12 employees. I joined the company in 2001 after meeting Patrick Joy, the founder, at a golf club. He had seen my success in scaling another Louth company that manufactured heat exchanges and he shared his vision with me. At that time, the company was turning over €300,000 per year, and our first goal was to grow that to €1 million – which we did within a year.

We had a simple strategy: Patrick focused on sales, and I focused on operations. He sold the vision, while I built the infrastructure to support it. By 2001, we had bought our first factory and moved from Dundalk to Dunleer. We steadily grew, expanding our manufacturing capabilities to Poland and later to the UK, Thailand and China, ensuring we could manufacture and deliver products wherever they were needed.

Suretank was initially focused on offshore oil and gas. How did the business evolve?

For 20 years, we specialised solely in offshore oil and gas, particularly in supplying certified tanks for handling chemicals which required strict safety regulations. However, by 2016, the price of oil collapsed, and overnight, we lost 70% of our business. We had to make tough decisions, scaling back from 826 employees to fewer than 200.

It was a challenging time for everyone, both professionally and personally. Rather than giving up, we diversified. We assessed our core competencies – engineering, structural design, welding and manufacturing – and identified 44 different industries where we could apply our expertise, specifically by starting to build modular solutions. We had the mindset that if we were going to fail, we would fail fast. But very quickly, we found success which led us into the data centre, pharma, renewables, offshore wind and solar energy industries. In doing so, we derisked the business. Today, Suretank is far more resilient, with multiple revenue streams across various industries.

What has been the key to Suretank’s long-term success?

What is important is our confidence in our unrivalled skills and expertise. That has enabled us to always embrace change and build products that meet evolving industry needs. When oil and gas slowed, we pivoted. Similarly, when the data centre and renewables industries started to flourish, we entered those markets. Underscoring all of this is our health and safety record and commitment to the highest possible standards across all solutions and industries; everything we build is built with safety at the core.

We work closely with customers to make sure we are continuously innovating and providing them with custom-built solutions that address their specific, often nuanced, problems. Many of our products have started life on the flipboard that stands next to my desk. I sit with our customers and we work together on conceptualising a product, regardless of how challenging the design requirements are. Similarly, our sales team are all qualified engineers, ensuring customers benefit from our expertise from ideation to delivery.

People are our greatest asset and consistently investing in them ensures we have the skills and knowledge to sustain long-term growth. We believe in growing and developing our own talent and ensuring everyone gets a chance to succeed. We benefit greatly from the young, international workforce in Louth and we nurture that through apprenticeship programmes and a partnership with Dundalk Institute of Technology (DKIT) for engineering bursaries. This means that most people we hire tend to live within a 40-kilometre radius of our headquarters in Dunleer, which means nobody ever has to travel too far to get to work.

Suretank has grown from a local Irish company to a global player. What is the strategic importance of steering this from Louth?

Suretank’s location in County Louth is a tremendous strategic asset. Situated along Ireland’s east coast, we benefit from proximity to two of the country’s most important commercial hubs, Belfast and Dublin, giving us access to major transport links, ports, and international gateways. This location allows us to efficiently manage logistics and maintain strong connections with both domestic and international clients.

Equally important is the local talent pool. Louth has a rich tradition of manufacturing excellence, and we are proud to employ some of the most skilled and experienced professionals in the industry. This access to high-calibre talent supports our innovation, quality, and ability to deliver our engineering solutions.

While we operate globally with over 120 customers in 23 countries, having our headquarters in Louth keeps us grounded in our origins while offering a central base from which we can serve customers anywhere in the world.

Looking ahead, what’s next for Suretank?

The future for Suretank is focused on the continued sustainability and resilience of our business model, built on a foundation of smart, practical engineering.

On the health and safety side, Suretank were awarded the Health and Safety Excellence Award in 2022 and the Excellence in Health and Safety which amplifies Suretank’s commitment to engineering products and solutions with safety as one of our top priorities.

Innovation remains one of our most valuable strengths. As past recipients of the Innovation and Technology Award, we’re proud to continue pushing boundaries and leading the way in the infrastructure sector. We’re committed to ensuring Suretank meets the growing demand for Offsite Manufactured (OSM) solutions, both here in Ireland and internationally. With the current surge in data centres, power grids, and mission-critical infrastructure, this is a very exciting time for the infrastructure sector and having Suretank play an active role in delivering these Modular (OSM) solutions for major projects is something we’re incredibly proud of.

To support this next phase of growth, we recently announced the creation of 80 new jobs, which we aim to fill by the end of 2025. This expansion is about reinforcing the expertise and capabilities that allow us to serve our global customer base with confidence and agility.

Suretank is stronger than ever. We’ve faced challenges head-on, adapted to evolving markets, and emerged smarter and more focused. With a firm commitment to innovation, sustainability, and excellence, we’re ready to lead into the next 30 years and continue to deliver world-class engineering solutions that meet the needs of tomorrow’s industries.

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