Long-serving Wexford businessman shares tips for budding entrepreneurs
Leading family business, Joyces of Wexford, celebrated 80 years of providing Ireland with expert advice and electrical goods with a milestone event at The Ferrycarrig Hotel last week…
A cornerstone of the community, the company which is run by renowned brothers Derek and Murt Joyce, supplies high-end products from Apple, Bosch, Smeg, Ninja, Siemens, Samsung and more to households across the country.
Known locally as the electrical experts, Joyces of Wexford was founded in March 1944. At the time, Murt Joyce Senior was helping to supply homeowners with goods during World War II, often cycling from Wexford to Dublin to source appliances, parts and televisions. With demand exceeding supply, and rural electrification across the country, Joyces swiftly became a household name. Beginning as a humble warehouse at 7 North Main Street in Wexford Town, today the company has purpose-built premises in Clonard and also does a large proportion of business online.
Presentations were made to Derek and Murt Joyce at the Joyces 80th Anniversary celebrations in the Ferrycarrig Hotel on Thursday evening pictured with Ciaran and Cillian Joyce. Pic: Jim Campbell
Now entering the third generation of an ever-growing family business, Derek and Murt are now joined in the business by Derek’s son’s Cillian and Ciaran. The milestone event saw relatives, family members and more turnout to celebrate the growth of the Wexford born company as it continues to supply hard to get electrical goods outside the county. The brothers also used the event to pay tribute to loyal staff members, Brian Kelly, Simon Kirwan, Mary Tully, Breda Lafferty, and Jimmy Phillips who each committed to working with the local business for over two decades.
Running a business is no easy feat. We caught up with Derek Joyce who is the Managing Director of Joyces Expert, Joyces of Wexford and we first discussed the challenges he faced over the years as a businessman:
“The biggest challenges, without doubt, were managing four busy retail premises in Wexford Town (and one warehouse) before our move to Clonard Retail Park in 2005. As a businessman, implementing change as our product offering developed and diversified and developing our systems to facilitate that diversification also proved demanding at the time but it as been worth every single step,” he said.
Despite the challenges that he faced, he wouldn’t change it for the world. And David credits his loyal customer base in Wexford and the community spirit for helping him to overcome any challenges that stood in his way:
For David, the best things about being in business in Wexford is simply the loyal customers:
“We have a wonderful and loyal customer base. Most of our customers are lifelong, we are very fortunate to be in a community which has supported us for over eighty years now,” he told Wexford Weekly.
Presentations were made to members of staff at the Joyces 80th Anniversary celebrations in the Ferrycarrig Hotel on Thursday evening. (l to r)- Simon Kirwan, Ciaran Joyce, Breda Lafferty, Derek Joyce, Cillian Joyce, Mary Tully, Murt Joyce, Brian Kelly. Pic: Jim Campbell
Now with decades of years worth of experience, Derek is also keen to share his advice to budding entrepreneurs who are thinking about going into business in Wexford.
“The best advice I could give would be to believe in what one aspires to and apply oneself to achieve it. Another piece of advice is to delegate to those with better knowledge and skills in order to progress the company as best as possible,” he said.
