Ocean to Outback stays grounded

THE flexibility to refine his business plan after initial setbacks has delivered Adam Lamond a thriving operation that provides engineering, maintenance and industrial services to the likes of BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group.

Founded in 2003 by Perth electrician Adam Lamond, Ocean to Outback Contracting started out as Ocean to Outback Electrical, which focused its business on installing electrics at mining camps in Western Australia.

Mr Lamond had previously worked up north as an electrician and as project manager for another business, but decided it was time to set up his own company.

“I built up my contacts and started Ocean to Outback Electrical and we started working with [manufactured accomodation providers] Ausco and Fleetwood and from there, we built the business up,” Mr Lamond said.

A couple of years into the business, Mr Lamond said he recognised increasing demand from clients for a ‘one-stop shop’ for electrical, plumbing and carpentry services.

“In 2005 I was working with some guys who had a plumbing business and a carpentry business ... so we got together and formed a company that was called Mineworks, which provided those in-house services to clients,” Mr Lamond told WA Business News.

Mineworks could not get the traction that it needed to survive in the booming economy, however.

“Everything in WA was booming, including our individual businesses, but joined together we weren’t so successful and we weren’t putting the right amount of energy into Mineworks because we were too busy focusing on our own businesses,” he said.

Even though the Mineworks venture dissolved, Mr Lamond still felt that he could apply the ‘one-stop’ business model to Ocean to Outback Electrical.

“It ended up being a stepping stone into where we are now,” Mr Lamond said.

“I still believed the model would work by having all your trades in-house, so I brought some guys in as minor shareholders who specialised in plumbing, communications and construction.”

Instead of dividing the shareholding equally as he did for Mineworks, Mr Lamond kept 51 per cent of the company and divided the remaining shareholding between the other five shareholders.

Consequently, in 2008, Ocean to Outback Contracting was born and offered clients all facets of mining camp installation, including mine site infrastructure, accommodation, sewerage and water treatment plants, demolition works and maintenance.

This concept turned out to be extremely lucrative for the company, allowing it to grow from an annual turnover of $8 million in 2008 to $54 million in the 2010-2011 financial year.

“I think you sometimes have to fail to succeed, but by providing that right service to the client you are always going to get more work, so the opportunity was there, it was just getting the model right,” Mr Lamond said.

The company’s existing contracts from its days as Ocean to Outback Electrical gave its new business areas a huge kick-start.

“All of the other companies out there have to bring subcontractors in for different jobs and manage those subcontractors, but considering we have plumbing and electrical working together we can fast track the work and adapt better to our clients’ schedules,” Mr Lamond said.

The input of all staff was instrumental to the growing success of the business, he said.

“At the end of the day, it’s your people that do the work on site and the quality of product they deliver to the client is a reflection on the business as a whole,” Mr Lamond said.

New contracts from large-scale clients have required the company to expand its staff base to 35 in the office and around 140 on site.

Ocean to Outback Contracting has just secured a $15 million, six-month contract to provide services to BHP Billiton Oil and Gas’s Macedon project in Onslow, and also recently completed a $20 million four-month contract for Fortescue Metals Group.

General manager Chris Allen joined the company last year to run the systems, processes and staffing side of the business.

“To start taking on bigger jobs you need more competent project managers and that’s something we’ve been working on for the past eight months; so far we have four project managers, and that should make a big difference,” Mr Allen said.

However, Mr Lamond expressed his concerns about securing large-scale projects due to the number of bigger infrastructure and construction players entering the market.

“In the last 18 months, companies like Decmil, Georgiou, Pindan and Doric have made a big push into the mining industry and that’s been a bit of bad timing for us because these guys have big balance sheets, so they’re often given larger contracts,” Mr Lamond said.

“But because of our structure I think we have the edge from a pricing perspective, but from size perspective they have advantage over us, but we’ll continue to progress our way up as we have.”