2 | Carruthers Contracting
Carruthers Contracting | 3 Carruthers Contracting is a civil contracting company backed by experience. Established over 30 years ago, they have steadily developed a reputation for providing the highest quality work with the highest level of integrity. Today, they are well known industry-wide for their dedication to helping clients to achieve all their civil construction goals – on time and on budget. “We’re all about performance,” says Jim Carruthers, founder and Director of the company. “The systems within the business have been developed and refined over time to deliver the best possible results for our client base.” Jim established Carruthers Contracting on the Sunshine Coast in 1979, and has worked tirelessly to develop a strong reputation ever since. When he first commenced the business, he was a sole owneroperator with one backhoe. After several years of hard work, the operation evolved and was renamed Carruthers Plant Hire – which grew to include 10 machines, and operated as a successful plant hire business. In 1989, Jim decided to change directions within the company – he ventured into contract work, and quickly became known in the field for his hard work, honesty, reliability and good service. Not long
4 | Carruthers Contracting after, he had an office and depot constructed, and the company started taking on more diverse and larger scale contracts. The name of the business was changed to Carruthers Contracting to reflect this evolution. Eventually, the business grew out of their first facility. They moved to a new purpose designed facility at Yaninda, which consisted of offices, a maintenance and repair workshop, and a fully equipped works depot of a much larger scale. Today, Carruthers works out of that state-ofthe-art Yaninda facility, and provides a complete civil construction service from initial earthworks right through to completed bitumen roads and car parks. Their professional and experienced team includes 70 staff and numerous subcontractors – all of whom are dedicated to meeting the needs of their clients. MOBILE AND ADAPTABLE Carruthers Contracting provides a range of high quality civil construction services for the mining industry, commercial and private land development, and public infrastructure. Geographically, they are based on the Sunshine Coast, and have done work all across Southern Queensland. In their 30-plus years of doing business, they have earned the loyalty of many long standing customers in both the private and public sectors. Jim credits his high rate of customer satisfaction to the company’s “mobility.” He says that they have structured the business in a way that enables them to respond to clients – and deliver projects – in a uniquely timely manner. It also enables them to be flexible, and responsive to any challenges they might encounter. “We’re able to adapt to a lot of different en-
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6 | Carruthers Contracting vironments and circumstances,” he says. “That’s what our clients look for.” That type of flexibility wouldn’t be possible, Jim adds, if not for the company’s highly dedicated staff – many of whom are long-term, and bring a wealth of experience to their roles. Jim himself has worked in all facets of the civil contracting industry, and has made it a priority to pass on his knowledge to the younger generation. That younger generation includes Jim’s own children – his sons James and Bradley, and his daughter, Kate. James and Bradley have completed apprenticeships and attained certificates in management, and James now works as a valuable member of the company’s estimating team. Kate, similarly, is a vital cog of the company’s administration team, and will also play an important part in the company’s future. “We see people as our best investment,” says Michael King, HRManager for Carruthers Contracting. “There are a lot of good learning and development opportunities within our organisation. We’re able to offer a career path. There are people who have been here for up to 25 years, and have taken advantage of that.” According to Michael, Carruthers Contracting considers their employees “paramount” to the success of the company. “Our people are the business,” he says. “They are what our reputation is based on. We have some excellent professionals on the ground, and they’re our best form of advertising. That’s where repeat work comes from.” “We’re very much a family oriented business,” Jim adds. “Our staff benefit from that, and our clients benefit from that.” A STEADY PROGRESSION Carruthers Contracting also fosters strong and lasting relationships with their suppliers and sub-
Carruthers Contracting | 7 contractors. According to both Jim and Michael, those relationships are built on mutual respect– and also a shared dedication to getting the job done right. “If we need to call in a favor if something becomes urgent, we have relationships and trusts built that allow us to do that,” Michael explains. “Unexpected issues can pop up during a project, and having those relationships in place helps us to deal with those.” Carruthers Contracting is further equipped to deal with challenges due to their plethora of inhouse resources. For example, they own an extensive fleet of well-maintained earth moving equipment. They also have a fully-equipped workshop staffed by qualified mechanics, which means they can schedule maintenance and service to meet tight time frames. Moving forward, Jim says the company will continue to maintain and upgrade those resources, as they have throughout the company’s life. He also says they will continue to successfully deliver complex and significant projects throughout the Sunshine Coast. To date, the company has completed several subdivisions, valued from $250,000 all the way to $25 million. Jim says Carruthers Contracting is particularly adept at tackling those projects – and the smaller complex projects as well – because of their experience. Moving forward, he sees the company continuing to add to that experience through “organic and responsible growth.” “I’d love to see a steady progression,” he says of his vision for the future. “And I have three children in the business, so I see it continuing to be family owned and operated for a long time to come.”
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