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Alan Gorman: “Mercury success hinges on building and maintaining great client relationships”
For three decades Alan Gorman has been riding the wave of Mercury’s evolution and growth, taking on each new challenge with a calm, yet steely determination. As Managing Director of our Enterprise Data Centres Division, Alan has been an integral part of Mercury’s dynamic new restructuring programme, which sees the Group segmenting its operations into eight strategic divisions, each with its own clearly defined structure and dedicated management team.
Alan’s career with Mercury has been far from ordinary. In fact, he has been an integral part of Mercury’s “firsts” for over thirty years now. Alan has progressed through a range of roles, from Supervisor to Project Manager, Contract Manager and Divisional Lead. He has been instrumental in cementing Mercury’s reputation as an industry leader in Ireland. And, like a rolling stone, Alan has kept moving forward! For the last 12 years he has been applying his vast experience to Data Centre projects right across Europe.
“There’s never a dull moment!” Alan quips. “It’s challenging, yet ultimately rewarding. I enjoy the pressure, there’s certainly no opportunity to sit back! I’ve been lucky to work on some leading-edge projects in Ireland, from large scale Semiconductor and Pharma programmes, to more niche contracts like the Aviva Stadium. It’s been a privilege to be part of Mercury’s success story in Ireland, but personally I have really relished helping to grow our business in Europe. That’s been a real highpoint in my career and I’m proud of what we have achieved to date.”
Mercury has established a reputation as a leader in the construction of Data Centres, delivering an end-to-end service spanning design & build, planning, construction, commissioning and lately, post-construction facility management. As early adopters in the construction industry, Mercury has continued to champion modern methods of construction, ensuring that it is perfectly positioned to meet the ever-increasing demands of the market in both Tier 1 and Tier 2 territories.
Alan heads up the Enterprise Data Centres Divison, supported by his senior management team. The EDC Division is split into three further Strategic Business Units (SBUs), each run by its own BU lead. This model allows for targeted growth within each SBU. “It means that we can build even closer relationships with our clients,” Alan points out. “As a business grows, there’s the risk of becoming more remote and disconnected from your client base. We were determined not to let that happen. To stay closer to our clients, we took the brave decision to reimagine our business structure. Splitting into strategic divisions means that we can work closer and smarter, delivering a better service to our clients and facilitating their strategies for future growth.”
“What’s exciting about the new structure is that we’re all equally important cogs in the big wheel. We now have eight clearly defined divisions, generating revenue for the company across many territories but there is a core support structure headquartered in Ireland. Head Office is our anchor and our hub. The team at HO make it their business to travel out across the territories to stay in touch. We’re in it together and this hands-on support is hugely important, especially as we grow.”
“We are a people business,” Alan emphasises. Our success hinges on building and maintaining great client relationships. It’s so important to have these close synergies. We embed ourselves in our clients’ businesses and that’s what builds their trust. That trust means that wherever our clients go, we go too.” In fact, Mercury is now firmly at the forefront of the latest wave of Tier 1 & Tier 2 Data Centre construction, working on key projects in major cities such as Berlin, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Brussels, Madrid and many more.
Family is really important to Alan. “I’ve been married for 30 years and have four children. Over the years my career required travelling overseas and that took me away from home a lot. As a family person I found that difficult. My family really supported me, but my Mercury family has supported me too.”
And this steers the conversation towards the Mercury team. “I love seeing colleagues that started in a certain role elevate themselves to another level with their capability and attitude. These are the people I’ve grown up with and who have grown with me. That’s hugely satisfying.”
Alan believes that there’s also huge support from within. “We don’t just talk about diversity and inclusivity, we do it. We have developed a business model and an internal culture that gives everyone a fair chance to grow and develop regardless. We are trying to shape the future leaders of the business to build the roles we are in now. Our new structure is seeing even more women in key Construction roles. We’re also attracting a much more diverse pool of talent through our advances in off-site manufacturing. We’re increasingly moving away from “muddy boots” and creating innovation-driven, dynamic work environments.”
Asked about his own style of management Alan says, “There’s no great hierarchy. We all work closely together and respect each other. We believe in delegation. In fact, delegation has been one of the key reasons for Mercury’s success. It’s allowed our people to grow into their roles and grow the business too. We’ve had continuous support from the ownership of the company. They’ve encouraged us to be brave, expand our horizons and push further. This spirit is very much alive in our organisation today.”
So, what does the future hold? Alan reckons it’s very bright indeed! “It has been a difficult couple of years post-Brexit and Covid. The conflict in Europe has also presented challenges from a supply chain perspective. Partnering with our clients earlier in the design process has meant that we can utilise the latest OSA and OSM innovations. We’re endeavoring to deliver Data Centres projects with less waste, less energy, more efficiencies and cost certainty. This is the future of construction and I look forward to seeing what the next few years bring.”
Enterprise Data Centres
Mercury is Europe’s most experienced Enterprise Data Centre service provider. We go beyond to meet the challenges of the ever-growing Enterprise market. Over the last 20 years our highly skilled global teams have successfully delivered data centres for some of the world’s largest data centre companies. Our cutting-edge construction methods mean we consistently deliver highly complex and specialised turnkey services. We design, build, plan, construct and commission data centres using the highest levels of safety, quality and delivery. We then manage the maintenance of facilities post-construction.
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