Much like Infrastructure People which offers a solution that breaks down the barriers of traditional businesses. Our partnering company Carrabay are also leading the charge in completely revolutionising civil concrete construction with its unique full-service offering to Tier 1, 2 and 3 companies across the industry.
Infrastructure People’s Marketing Manager Claire-Ann Leo recently caught up with Brian Flannelly who leads Carrabay, Australia’s first to market end to end solution for concrete structures under civil contracts.
So let’s begin with where the idea of Carrabay came from. Brian explained that, with a positive and proactive mindset he set out to achieve his dreams and tackle what seemed at the time an impossible possibility.
Where it all started
In 2015 Carrabay was founded and has since turned into a hugely successful business which has become key to the infrastructure and construction industry. At the young age of 24 Brian was able to achieve the two goals he had set out for himself, which were 1. To buy a house for family and 2. Start his own business.
After 10 years of industry experience, owner Brian Flannelly saw an opportunity to bridge the gap between unreliable rebar suppliers and onsite contractors so this unique service was introduced to the construction industry to tackle the continuous disconnect between manufacturers and contractors.
From cutting and bending steel on a small table bender in a tiny storage unit as a breakdown service to two state of the art factories in Riverwood, 6 years later Brian has transformed Carrabay into a successful business with over 80 members of staff. With this having doubled every year since 2018 there are absolutely no signs of this slowing down. Carrabay’s mission is to be “the best not biggest.”
What makes Carrabay unique?
Carrabay is Australian owned and operated, and the business is leading the way in completely revolutionising the civil concrete construction industry by focussing on modular (off-site prefabrication) construction. Everything at Carrabay is self-performed and all completed in-house.
There are thousands of Full-Service Form Reo Pour (FRP) contractors around and hundreds of steel suppliers but no other businesses that combine the two.
The two divisions that make up the business are Rebar Processing and modular reinforcement solutions known as Carrabay Rebar which consists of 35% of business operations. The Civil and FRP contracting division known as Carrabay which is the additional 65% of business operations. Carrabay Group offers end to end solutions for civil and infrastructure projects. The business has been successful in building a multidisciplinary team of over 80 FRP tradesmen, detailing & manufacturing, pre-fabricating and management staff.
“We know that Reinforcing steel is known to be the most difficult raw material to manage and cost track, so with absolute confidence and authority, we throw our hat in the ring and offer lump-sum pricing on steel supply & FRP contracts all delivered on time and on budget by one company. We’ve eliminated the blame game, by cutting out the middle man and being solely responsible for the end to end management of the full service”.
Carrabay was the first to market with this model and it still remains the only business of its kind in the industry.
How can Carrabay play an integral part for businesses across the infrastructure and construction industry?
Carrabay are a full-service supplier to Tier 1, 2 and 3 construction firms and have provided significant support across a variety of projects. With a highly qualified and knowledgeable team on hand, their staff collectively have a considerable range of experience. Whilst understanding the importance in making their services as cost effective as possible for clients, their services includes:
- Rebar Manufacturing
- Off site Prefabrication
- Cage Manufacturing
- Labour
- Concrete Placement & Formwork & Steel fixing
Carrabay pride themselves on being innovative and experimental with solutions designed to keep up with the high demand of the industry and their clients’ specific requirements. Since its inception, Carrabay have completed high quality concrete works on tunnel, civil, major infrastructure, commercial, solar, and wind farm construction across Australia. Their impressive portfolio includes some of the country’s largest civil infrastructure projects, including:
- WestConnex
- NorthConnex
- Light Rail Project (NSW)
- Sydney Metro
- Sydney University 10 story building
- Northern Road Bridges
- Macarthur Drive Water Treatment Upgrade
- Multiple Culvert and Pit-Construction
- North parks mine expansion
- Over 40 Cross Passage F.R.P Construction N.R.T
- Picton Water Treatment Plant
- Wickham Newcastle Rail Intersection
- Crookwell Windfarm
- Torrens Rail Junction Project (SA)
- Broken Hill Windfarm (QLD)
- Barcaldine Solar Farm(QLD)
What’s next for Carrabay?
Which brings us to now, Brian has worked incredibly hard and is particularly proud of the culture and brand which makes Carrabay the leading example business that it is today.
“We have the vision of becoming Australia’s leading FRP / civil contractor + specialising in modular Rebar solutions and aim to provide our clients with a stress-free program and remove any budget concerns that have been apparent in our industry for most projects. We lean heavily on accountable service providers such as Infrastructure People to maintain a standard of excellence to be the best at what we do, not the biggest.
Our business understands what keeps project managers awake at night and how too often budgets are blown out with unforeseen surprises.
The element that sets Carrabay apart is that everything we offer is self-performed and managed under one roof. Providing an end to end vertically integrated service, from detailing, rebar cut & bending, offsite prefabrication, steel fixing, concrete placement, formwork civil plant and state of the art production lines. Back this up with our world-class support team and you can easily see why we are known as “credible reliable change-makers”.
Service and Quality
There is no ceiling for being problem solvers, so we are excited to collaborate with future core clients. We are redefining the definition of “value add” within the space we operate. We are solidified on the mission to support your success for contracts and career by raising the bar on service and quality.”
“Infrastructure People have been working with Carrabay for over 6 months and Brian’s passion and drive has been a pleasure to work with. I truly believe in what he is trying to achieve and in a similar situation to ourselves with a one of a kind model I felt it was right for us to introduce Brian’s business to our clients. I look forward to helping Brian & Carrabay grow over the next few years so he can achieve his goals.” – Robert Clowes, Co-Founder of Infrastructure People.
- They get the job done and they solve problems that money can’t, by addressing industry specific issues
- They offer a first to market self performed model
- Everything they do is in-house which allows them to be fully accountable and responsible for the scope of works
If you’re interested in hearing more on what Carrabay can do for your business, please get in touch with the team today.
Web: carrabay.com.au
Tel: 1300 39 60 60
Email: brian@carrabay.com.au
For more Industry Insights: https://www.infrastructurepeople.net.au/industry-insights/
