Longford man ‘honoured’ to take over leadership of building manufacturers group Octabuild

Mike Glennon, Joint Managing Director of Longford-based timber processors, Glennon Brothers, has been elected chair of the building manufacturers group, Octabuild for 2025-2026. Additionally, Niall Fay, Director at Grant Engineering, has been appointed treasurer.

Octabuild is unique among representative groups in the building and construction industry – its members have a solid manufacturing base in Ireland; operate to the highest technical and management quality standards; are market leaders in their business sectors and use builders merchants as their primary sales route to the end-user.

There are eight Octabuild members – Dulux Paints, Etex Ireland, Glennon Brothers, Grant Engineering, Gyproc, Irish Cement, Kingspan Insulation and newest member, Bostik.

Octabuild was established in 1984 to highlight the benefits of high-quality, Irish-manufactured products. Key initiatives are the bi-annual Octabuild Builders Merchant Excellence Awards, an all-island competition recognising industry excellence, and more recently, a bi-annual ‘Building Connections’ event for industry leaders.

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Glennon Brothers have been members since 2014, with Mike Glennon bringing extensive industry expertise to his role as Chairperson. 

As Joint Managing Director alongside his brother Pat, he has overseen the company’s significant expansion across Ireland and the UK. Today, Glennon Brothers directly employs over 900 people and supports an additional 450 indirectly through contract harvesting and haulage. Operating across seven manufacturing sites, the company now has a turnover of €330 million.

Speaking on his appointment, Mike Glennon said: "Collaboration and partnership are at the heart of Octabuild. Throughout my career in the timber and construction industries, I’ve seen the vital role builders merchants play in delivering high-quality building materials to the market. Irish manufacturing is key to this process, providing locally made products to meet demand.

“I am honoured to take on the role of Chairperson and I am committed to strengthening relationships and ensuring that Octabuild continues to support merchants in a way that drives collaboration, innovation and excellence, over the next two years."

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The current board of Octabuild comprises representatives from eight industry-leading companies: Peter Morrissey, Bostik, Mark Filgate, Dulux, Kieran Duggan, Etex, Mike Glennon, Glennon Brothers (Chairperson), Niall Fay, Grant Engineering (Treasurer), Mark O’Reilly, Gyproc, Ray Molyneaux, Irish Cement and Cathal Coen, Kingspan Insulation.