23: 23. Harry Maharaj, Director at Kilkenny Architectural Salvage & Antiques

Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly

When Harry Maharaj completed his Mechanical Engineering degree he got a ‘lucky’ call – his words, not mine – from a recruiter who found my CV online and asked would he consider moving away from engineering and going for an institutional equity sales role in Davy. Eight years later, having built strong client relations in Europe and US, he quit the job, moved home to Kilkenny, and started in the family business, Kilkenny Architectural Salvage.
Founded by his father to harness a long standing passion of his in the world of salvage, the business has just celebrated its 25th birthday. The company started originally building up stock by attending auctions, dealing with other salvage yards and buying from everyday people who had items to sell. Since then it has evolved and while they still buy from those original sources, they now have an extensive network of people and businesses who they deal with. They work very closely with some of the top hotels, restaurants and bars around Ireland, and also import items from the UK, Europe and even further afield.
Robin's three sons (Paul, Harry and Conor) all left their jobs in Dublin to move home to join the business in the last 5 years which has had a huge impact on the scale of the business in particular with bringing the business online through social media – they have 80k followers and have found it a great way to bring the world of salvage to the next generation.

This is the 23rd episode with guest Harry Maharaj, Director at Kilkenny Architectural Salvage & Antiques, in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'.
This podcast brings you insightful conversation between Aidan Donnelly and entrepreneurs and business owners/management with their own unique story to tell. If you like what you hear, please like, share and subscribe.