Future Proof: Old-fashioned phone box a very good call for John Burke Joinery

When the recession came, few businesses were left unscathed. Among the worst hit were those aligned to the construction sector. Spare a thought then for John Burke Joinery, a Dublin-based company that came close to folding during the downturn, but which somehow managed to hold on in there.

Through grim determination and a bit of smart thinking, the firm diversified into a whole new business, and, in doing so, set itself on the path to recovery.

“We went from having a high of 48 people working for the company down to a low of just four within a very short space of time. The worst thing about it was you could sense the recession coming way before it happened when the cranes started coming down and weren’t being replaced,” says owner John Burke.

“I first started having to let staff go in 2007 and things rapidly haemorrhaged from there. By Christmas 2011 we were down to me, my two sons and my brother because everyone else had been temporarily laid off or had gone via full redundancies.

“We were still doing a bit of work but our turnover had dropped by 85 to 90 per cent and there simply wasn’t work for anyone else outside the immediate family,” he adds.

Salvation came from the oddest of sources – an old-fashioned telephone box.

"We didn't have the option of shutting-up shop – I refused to do that – and so I started to look around and see what else we could do, and that's when I got into the idea of making handcrafted telephone boxes, " says Burke.

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What might seem like an obscure sideline has grown into a major source of business for the company and one which helped it survive the recession and come out smiling on the other side.

“I saw a documentary called Bye Bye Now, which was about how important phone boxes once were, and it took me right back to thinking how much I loved them when I was a young lad. I remembered how I’d be queuing with my mother outside so she could call her sister in the UK and it got me thinking me that they were such a lovely piece of Irish heritage and how they were once everywhere. It made me want to try to bring them back to life in some way,” says Burke.

While he wasn’t sure if there was a market or not for the boxes, he set about making a few handcrafted replicas.

"After I made one, I was lucky enough to get my first customer, which was Grant Thornton. They wanted one to use as a quiet zone because, if you're in an open plan office and you get a personal call, you probably want to go somewhere to take it without everyone else overhearing the conversation," he says.

Other companies in Ireland soon followed suit and the phone boxes are now installed in a number of offices. In addition, they’ve also become a popular addition in pubs, restaurants and hotels.

“Pubs in particular love them because, when it’s getting hectic, people can step inside them and call their babysitter or their friends. They’ve become so popular we’ve been selling them in Britain, Germany, Finland, Australia, the United States, Canada and even the Cayman Islands,” he says.

“I love the fact that the phone box is being used in the way it was intended, which is to make and receive calls,” Burke adds.

In addition to selling full-size phone boxes, related products such as fridge magnets, bottle openers, key rings and mobile phone docking stations have also proven popular.

“I branched out into producing smaller phone boxes because we had made a miniature version which we could show off in meetings. When I started taking it around places, people wanted to buy them as well as the full-size one and so it got wings and now we do a whole range of products,” he says.

Burke established his company in 1985 after spending a number of years working in the construction trade. Having started off as an apprenticeship he’d progressed up to being a foreman before deciding to go out on his own.

In addition to standard joinery service such as doors, frames, and timber mouldings, the company also became known over the years for creating a range of quality office and reception furniture. Clients have included Vodafone, Facebook, Google, Bank of Ireland and Apple.

Other projects

Having survived the recession, the company’s main business is also thriving again.

“We’re back up to 27 people and just recently won a contract to work on what is probably the biggest show in town right now – the Bennetts contract to create student accommodation in Bolton Street. That will take us into February or March of next year so between that and a lot of the fit outs that are going on, we’re busy again.

“The phone boxes are still doing great, so we’re nicely set overall,” he says.

Burke says that he’s also working on a number of other projects that stem from the quiet room concept and he’s feeling optimistic about the future.

“We put a lot of money and energy into the phone box business and it’s lovely to see it succeed. With our other business getting back on track we’re looking forward again,” he says.