1972 Kavanagh Roofing was founded by Mr. Arthur Kavanagh. Initially he worked on the roofs himself, with his brother Patrick, and took on extra labour as needed. The business was ran from a shed in the back garden of his house.
1979 Arthur and his wife, Mandy, moved to Greenacres, Shaftesbury and they formed the office from which the business was first run from. Gradually over the next three years, as the business grew, Arthur spent less time on the roofs and more time running the office with Mandy. The Kavanagh Family are still actively involved within the firm.
1983Patrick Kavanagh joined the office as Contracts Manager, and two years later Mr. Graham Glaze joined us as an accountant.
1987 The Company "Kavanagh Roofing Limited" was formed and we became members of The National Federation of Roofing Contractors, which provides customers with a guaranteed standard of workmanship. We are the only roofing contractor in this area to have obtained membership. The business has continued to grow from strength to strength; due to Arthur always demanding the very highest of standard from all those involved with the company. Over the years our workforce has increased, and currently we employ approximately 50 workers, many of whom have been with us for a number of years, often starting off as labourers and progressing to become experienced tilers and slaters.
1995 in July Peter May joined the company as Senior Estimator.
1997 in April, in line with many sub-contract based companies, a decision was made to offer all our Sub contractor labour permanent employment. Although this was a dramatic change in the employment status, all of our Sub contract labour accepted employment under the terms offered. As a result of this, we feel we are now in a stronger position to offer major contractor continuity of labour when projects demand this. The business is now one of the largest privately owned roofing companies in the South of England covering a wide area, with a reputation for high quality service and competitive pricing for both its private customers and the building and contracting industries.
1997 Sadly Mr. Arthur Kavanagh died in September 1997 after a long battle against cancer, but he has left behind him a legacy of a well established roofing company with a workforce determined to carry on the business to the standards he set.
2000 the Company moved to new premises at Longmead Industrial Estate in Shaftesbury, which offered larger office space and yard accommodation to accommodate stock and the increasing work load. It had also been a long term aim to move into merchanting, selling roofing products not only to the trade but also the general public and we have been offering this service ever since. This side of the business continues to grow and our location and knowledge of the industry now makes this a key part of our business.
2023 The Company is now managed by Mandy Kavanagh with fellow Directors Graham Glaze dealing with accounts (amongst other things) and Andy Moores with contracting and the general management of the business. We have seen major changes in all aspects of roofing and hope we will be able to embrace all the new challenges we are seeing in an ever changing business especially following the hugely challenging period during Brexit, Covid and subsequent the economic situation.