they export overseas as well, with the majority of their international exports going to Japan. That activity in Japan goes back to the company’s inception. “When Pat started in the business he worked in the Australian market and there were not a lot of people who believed in the product. The attitude was ‘why do a part brick when we can do a full brick?’ He went over to the Tokyo home show and established the business more as an export business than as a local business.” The reason for the interest from Japan is the Japanese do a lot of prefabricated buildings, and because of their earthquake requirements they can’t have full bricks unless they have reinforcement in them. Lightweight brickwork is a better solution for their unique conditions. Historically, the company’s popularity in their native Australia came later, when Pat was approached by an Australian company to come back here to do a prefabricated project in Toowoomba. “They thought Empire Brick was an overseas company, and then they realized he was actually local,” she says. These days, Empire Brick does a mix of all types of jobs. They take on large scale commercial projects and smaller second story additions to housing in the residential market. They also supply a lot of shopfitters for internal shop fitouts. Coralee believes it is the flexibility with their system that sets them apart. “Also, because we are an independent brick cutter, we’re not aligned to any particular brick company, so we can cut anyone’s bricks,” she says. This gives their customers more choice to have what they want THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA
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