MJM Marine ensures that people can travel the waves in style offering a complete project management service with innovative, bespoke and turnkey outfitting solutions.
As part of a family-owned group of companies founded by Brian McConville over 40 years ago, MJM, based in Newry, Ireland, originally started as a joinery sub-contractor. It then moved into manufacturing and eventually, marine work providing world-class outfitting services, supported by comprehensive in-house manufacturing facilities.
“Our introduction to marine work was refurbishing and outfitting ferries on the corridor between the UK and Ireland,” says Gary Annett, CEO of MJM Marine. “We had also completed land-based fit-outs for hotels, restaurants, and bars, this allowed the business to deal with seasonality and grew the business to a certain point where we had moved into larger factories. After getting our first break in cruise ships, alongside our fit-out work we were soon transitioning almost exclusively into marine outfitting.”
“Outfitting” can include everything on a marine vessel “from the hull inwards,” according to Annett.
“Over the years we have provided every service involved in the outfitting of a ship, from the cabins, suites, restaurants, bars to public and retailer spaces, readied to return to service” he says.
With the reputation MJM Marine has built, it has been able to work extensively with the top brands in the industry, including Carnival Corporation & PLC, Royal Caribbean Group, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd, to name just a few. This is not just because of the quality MJM offers, it is also their collaborative approach of working together to resolve challenges and meet shared goals.
“We can take any space and from early concept, develop it and evolve it to exceed customer expectations and importantly the user experience.” Annett says. “But ultimately our offering is about the reliability of delivery, which is down to our logistical innovation and the hard work, teamwork, and dedication of our employees.
Every day/hour a ship is in dry dock, “out of service”, ship-owners experience lost earnings therefore the planning of the “return to service” is extremely tight and means works are programmed right up to the last minute.
Across the Seven Seas
Those high levels of efficiency and standards become even more critical when one considers just how widespread MJM Marine’s customers are.
“Our business is 100% export,” Annett points out. “We see ourselves as a local company, but we work internationally. Our many different partners are not at fixed locations but everything we do is about moving personnel and the product. Each job could be anywhere in the world, cruising around Alaska, dry docking in Singapore or a shipyard in Cadiz. It is mandatory you have a dynamic and agile workforce.”
“The challenge is attracting people that ensure we continue to go above and beyond customer expectation. Capable staff, both ashore and afloat, are our most important assets.”
“The wider economic climate is influencing the job market and making it difficult to fill roles, the traditional means of recruitment and attracting talent is no longer suitable,” Annett tells us. “This led us to investing further in our programme called ‘Navigate’. ‘Navigate’ focuses on everything from work experience to apprenticeship, it is about exposing young people to different parts of the business, helping them decide where they want to go.”
“We want to offer every employee a realistic route for career progression, showing them how they can develop personally and professionally, whilst also making a real difference to the success of our business.”
The programme is allowing MJM Marine to harness locally sourced talent at both its home in Newry and its hub in Gdańsk, Poland. It is part of an effort to position the companies to look at different talent-gathering tools.
“There is a specialism in what we do, particularly in terms of the final product,” Annett says. “But a lot of our core roles are roles you will find in many industries where skills are transferrable. We build things that just happen to be on water and floating around. So, specialism is something we can work on once we can bring someone in with the right core skills.”
There is certainly no lack of curiosity about the business.
“At our recent open day, we had over two hundred people come along and get a sneak peek and insight into the business and the opportunities available,” Annett says. “as a result of opening the doors we created an enormous buzz and we eagerly await new team members.”
“MJM Marine has a lot to offer, providing future employees with the opportunity to travel or to learn a different part of the industry. Our people are the power behind our brand.”
A Trajectory of Growth
But while the future is looking bright for MJM Marine right now, there is no denying the company, like everyone intrinsically linked to the cruise industry, has had to sail some choppy waters to get here. The company was on a rapid growth trajectory only a few years ago, but like many that depend on the tourism sector, it found Covid-19 to be a challenge.
“Covid hit quickly, and we had a few projects paused and then cancelled,” Annett admits. “But for the last few years, we have been steadily growing, building a significant order book of projects further into the future. Like many in the cruise industry, we are confident that there are signs of growth in the sector.”
“We keep abreast of the market pace, which has picked up considerably over the last six months,” Annett tells us. “as a result of our insights into future drydocks and refits, we firmly believe we will be back to where we were sometime next year. So, the next challenge is to further increase the team.”
We have built a reputation for meeting tight turnaround dates and our collaborative approach to resolve challenges and meet shared goals. The final spaces we produce are diverse and we tend to be involved in the more complex jobs.” Annett says. “Whilst it can be challenging it is very rewarding and it keeps our team relevant and developing in terms of our approach and how we look at each new obstacle.”
“Despite being a worldwide industry, we are very lucky to have such a loyal and supportive client base, which guides us in how its operational needs are best supported on upcoming or potential contracts,” Annett points out. “There is a collaboration and understanding about pipelines, this helps us keep pace with customer needs.”
As with most businesses, MJM Marine is also examining and refining business resilience and agility for the future.
“Supply chains have been constrained and will continue to be due to geopolitical situations that impact energy costs, inflation, and interest rates worldwide,” Annett says. “We continually refine our offering developing and evolving ready for upcoming projects.”
MJM Marine has already accomplished a lot, but Annett is extremely enthusiastic about the opportunities to be had.
There’s plenty more to come for MJM Marine.
“We’ve come a long way in a relatively short amount of time. We are now one of the leading contractors in our field,” he says. “Earlier this year, we hosted an event on a cruise ship docked in Belfast where we were joined by staff, local media, and invited dignitaries. We were delighted to be able to present on our future growth plans from new orders we have been commissioned for, how we are recruiting 100+ new people into the business, to where we plan to go next.”
It looks to be an exciting journey.
