Irish Australian Business Awards Peoples Choice 2017

In under a year, I have single handedly built TradeConnex from nothing to a respected market competitor with an annual turnover of $1.3M.

I took a risk in chasing this dream and while there is still a lot of hard work needed to achieve my vision of being a market leader, it has been extremely rewarding to see the company flourish from an idea to where it is today.

I believe that I deserve this award as I have a created a platform for many Irish to get their feet off the ground when they arrive in Australia.

I came to Melbourne January 2009 on a 6 month contract for a well established veterinary practice. Stayed with that business for 5 years.

I recognised need for modern veterinary services on Mornington Peninsula after being posted there by previous employer.  I recognised that huge horse population in that region was not well served by existing veterinary practices. I brought modern equipment and a new, more target-based approach to veterinary medicine in the region.

Since then I have established regional business presence in Kyneton & Tynong in other areas where massive horse population is not well served by the veterinary industry.

My colleagues and I have developed an idea for improving the occupational hygiene service provision in Western Australia and have experienced rapid growth to become a well-respected consultancy group that provides a range of services in the Environmental, Training and Safety Industries throughout Australia.

Our mission is to protect worker health and safety by partnering with clients to understand their risks and how to manage them and to create a workplace where the health, safety and well-being of employees is paramount.

The vision of the RED OHMS Group since it’s inception is to fill the gap created by the existing lack of expertise in the Mining and Oil and Gas sector. As a consultancy group, we have identified that there exists a huge gulf in what is currently being carried out by industry and what is required by the existing legislation. Our vision is to allow our clients to fill this gap to meet their legislative requirements while we assist them on their journey to best international practice.

We apply the fundamental principles of anticipation, recognition, evaluation & control of hazards in the work place that may have an impact on health & well-being. The RED OHMS Group is focused on providing pragmatic environmental and occupational hygiene solutions to businesses of all types & sizes.

The RED OHMS Group has experienced a rapid expansion, whereby it now employs 30 personnel in its offices in Perth, Sydney, Darwin and Kalgoorlie.

We are passionate about protecting worker health and this passion is driving the RED OHMS Group business plan to expand our operations, both nationally and internationally in the coming years.

We believe that Global P4P would be a worthy winner of an Irish Australian Business award as our company demonstrates what ordinary blokes from the ground can achieve in a relatively short space of time with a Strategic Approach, unrelenting attention to Quality, a bit of Irish luck and grasping the opportunities that Australia offers.

Global P4P is a Landfill Civil Specialist operating throughout Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales.  The P4P part of our name stands for People for Projects, as we know first-hand from onsite experience how critical it is to get quality staff on your project.  The business grew out of the LNG sector from 2014 – capitalizing on the highly skilled construction workers.  The company had humble beginnings and recognised from the outset that to be successful it was going to require strategic thinking and not just be another “Labour hire” business which was just churning out CV’s and not really providing any added value.  From the outset, the Directors wanted to create a company with a clear vision and sustainable business model.  The company took a strategic view, identifying the highly skilled resources and providing labour as project teams for specific Tier 1 projects.  The company also had its highly skilled and safe workforce employed on landfill operations, working in the largest landfill site in Victoria and running the landfill operations.



Over the past two years Global P4P identified and developed this niche area of Landfill Civil where it can bring together all its skills of civil operations ,quality, compliance, construction and engineering. The Landfill Sector is a dynamic market where operations are carried out 24/7, 365 days a year. The industry is heavily regulated and several bodies oversee compliance. It was this specialised offering to a niche market with a high barrier to entry that attracted Global P4P.

Despite, or rather because of these barriers the company has grown where it now recognised as a leading Landfill Civil Specialist. This past year has seen the company bid, secure and complete Landfill Cells and Caps in both Victoria and New South Wales. Global P4P has also secured a contract to provide and operate machines on working landfills. To achieve this the company has been very determined in its strategic direction and recruitment. Global P4P has developed a team now of industry professionals in Landfill Engineering, Construction Quality Assurance, Safety and Compliance.

Global P4P maintains the highest levels of Safety & Quality. Accreditation is underway for our Quality, Safety and Environmental Systems and we will have full ISO status by 31 October 2017 which will mark another milestone. This experience and commitment to Professionalism is what our customers get. This commitment to Quality and Safety also allows the company to leverage its labour force into Tier 1 large infrastructure projects. This proven track record of deliver has seen the company grow to over $3m turnover for FY17 and a projected increase in turnover to $8m forecast for FY18.

We are one of the fastest growing irish originated companies in Australia turning over $5 million inside our first year of operations and growing our team from 3 members to 50 45 of which are irish.  After 6 months of operations we were accredited under 3 IOS certificates (IOS: 9001, 14001 and 18001).  After 10 months of operation we had an EBA for our staff and we became a Level 1 accredited service provider for Ausgrid.

We have delivered safe, quality and cost effective outcomes on a diversity of contracts and projects, examples of which include the Sydney Light Rail, Northwest Growth Centrre and the M5 Wextconnex project.  We have a national capability including delivery in urban and remote FIFO locations and we have an established access to a network of industry accredited suppliers, delivery partners and subcontractors.

We would be a worthy winner of an Irish Australian Business Award for the following key reasons.

We are one of the fastest growing Irish originated companies in Australia turning over $5 million inside our first year of operations and growing our team from 3 members on the first day to 50 people, 45 of which are Irish.

After 6 months of operation we were accredited under 3 ISO certifications (ISO:9001, 14001, and 18001).  After 10 months of operation, we had an EBA in place for our staff and we became a Level 1 Accredited Service Provider for Ausgrid.

We have delivered safe, quality and cost-effective outcomes on a diversity of contracts and projects, examples of which include the Sydney Light Rail Project, Northwest Growth Centre and M5 Westconnex Project.
 

Our approach to safety culture is second to none. All our employee’s undergo safety leadership training and coaching which apply concepts of psychology and brain science to help shift attitudes at the individual level to deliver results at an organisation level. We use safety, wellbeing and continual improvement as a catalyst for sustainable cultural and organisational culture change.

We have a national capability including delivery in urban, rural and remote FIFO locations and we have an established access to a network of industry accredited suppliers, delivery partners and subcontractors.

 

Celtic Legal is a lawfirm with a difference. Founded in April 2016, its aim is to provide solutions, not lengthy litigation, to its clients. Throughout his career since arriving in Brisbane in 2008, the founder Brendan Long recognised that lawfirms were seen as a last resort in an already crowded and competitive market. A place where clients only went when they had to, and this was often too late.

Celtic Legal aimed, and succeeds, in helping clients from the inside out. We become part of the business, helping in the strategic growth of the business and preventing issues before they happen.

Celtic Legal has now become a trusted advisor to a range of clients from sole traders to large multinationals, from a broad range of ethnicity, backgrounds and industries. We are passionate about what we do, which is reflected in our success. Our staff dedicate their time to making client's feel at ease throughout their matter. We do not just talk about helping people, we put it into practice.

CXi is a provider of cloud-hosted investment management and administration applications for the Australian and global investment industry. It is an Early Stage Innovation Company. Our target clients are fund managers, superannuation and pension funds, custodian banks, administrators, insurance companies, sovereign funds and private wealth organisations.  Our solutions are designed to scale from ‘micro’ organisations to the very largest global fund managers and banks.

In an era of hype over digital disruption, where new types of products and market delivery strategies are conceived almost every day, we have opted to journey on the ‘path less travelled’. We design and implement systems to meet well-established needs that have been traditionally under-serviced and where there is large pent-up demand.

I believe that CIM Enviro would be a worthy winner of the Irish Australian Business Awards because we have built a technology that has the potential to change the way business operates globally, while at the same time lowering carbon emissions through saving energy.  I founded the company in 2014 and developed the ACE Platform, it analyses mass quantities of data from buildings, instantly detecting faults and inefficiencies.  The outcome for our clients is improved energy, maintenance and environmental performance.

The idea for CIM Enviro was born when I was working with SAP in Germany. Outside it was 26 degrees but our office was too cold. I asked the building maintenance technician to check the temperature sensor. He agreed that it was too cold but as he could not see any immediate issue, he turned up the temperature to ‘fix’ the problem.  It made no sense, there was a fault in the building; wasting energy, making the equipment run harder and making the office cold. It had been ‘fixed’ by making the system fight against itself.  I knew that there had to be a better way. 

I came to Australia with my family in 2008 after the global financial crisis. I began working in the energy saving sphere and was amazed at the ’black hole’ in how data was being used. Companies were data rich but information poor. There were systems in place to analyse energy usage but nothing to diagnose what was causing energy wastage. I took my knowledge of computer science and combined it with what I had learned from working with energy companies and developed a hardware and software solution to capture the data within buildings.
 

Our business was built off the back of relationships formed at the University of Limerick in the 1990’s when platform lead, Colin, engineers Derek and Jude and I studied together. When I set about developing the software, I knew that I had to get the band back together. Building the business with trusted friends has been a key element in our success.  CIM was bootstrapped in the truest sense of the word. For the first 18 months, I was a suit wearing CEO by day and factory worker by night. It was tough but I passionately believed in what we were doing.  It was only a matter of time before others believed in us too.

For the last 24 months CIM Enviro has averaged 18% month-on-month growth.  Last year, the government backed Capital Markets Co-Operative Research Centre (CMCRC) threw its weight behind us with a cash injection of $3 million in Series A capital.  CMCRC provides thought leadership and break-through technology solutions for capital, health and now energy markets.

CMCRC’s CEO and 2016 Innovator of the Year, Mike Aitken recognised our global potential. “Everything we do is aligned to using data to improve efficiency and transparency within a market. SMARTS did that within financial markets, CIM Enviro is doing the same within buildings,” said Prof. Aitken.

Electricity utilities like ActewAGL are using the ACE Platform to improve client services. “CIM’s ACE Platform technology is a ground breaking application that has helped our customers reduce their energy consumption and improve operations with no impact on their cost base,” said Sean Davis, Head of Retail Sales.

Our technology is changing the property industry.

Our company was established by 3 Engineers in Nov 2014 with minimal start up funds and no track record in the industry as a contractor. The founders of the company are Barry Egan, Ronan Egan and Artur Krupinski.  Our goals and targets were set during the years of experience in the industry where we became convinced that we could improve on the way works were delivered .

The decision to establish a company in the construction industry during 2014 coincided with a somewhat quiet time which made the initial start-up more difficult than anticipated.  While this time was challenging I believe that the challenges we faced during that time helped us to develop and refine the skills and qualities needed to build a successful company and th lessons continue to serve us well going forward.