Article on Pre-Cast Concrete

Better For Business
Source: Construction Contractor

A RECENT study has found that the 10 largest regional centres in Victoria provide many attractive business cost advantages compared to Melbourne. The Benchmarking Regional Business Costs study found that overall, the 10 regional cities offered lower labour costs, lower commercial and industrial building and land costs, a greater availability of vacant industrial land and a greater proportion of residents with trades education and training. The study was completed by Essential Economics for Regional Cities Victoria (RCV) and Regional Development Victoria in 2006.

One success story in the area of construction is Precast Concrete. Anything in concrete seems to be the name of the game at Precast Concrete in Victoria’s rapidly expanding South Wangaratta Industrial Area. “This area is perfect for us, we source all our raw materials locally and with excellent road links, we service a wide variety of customers within a 100 km radius of Wangaratta,” says Morris Hill, owner of Precast Concrete.

Initially a one person operation, the company has had 25 per cent year on year growth resulting in 11 people working in the facility now. The diverse product range now available has given Hill interesting possibilities, one of which was the move in 2005 to the new premises in South Wangaratta.

When operation commenced in 1996 it would have been difficult to envisage the size of business that has now developed. With only about six companies in the field, the move to bigger premises enabled a streamlining of the operation and an expansion of the product range.