back to the future with new inspiration

1920 781 In Good Company | Northern Rivers
bennett construction lismore logo

Bennett Construction
17 Habib Drive, Lismore, 2480 NSW

www.bennett.net.au

Visit Lismore Northern Rivers-01
back to the future with new inspiration

It would be fair to say that Bennett Construction and Ballina High School have come full circle with each other. It sounds like a back to the future story, with Bennett being awarded the contract to rebuild the school just over 50 years on from when they built the first school back in 1965. The new school, Ballina Coast High School is set to open in 2019.

“Winning that project would be our most satisfying achievement in recent years,” says regional manager Marty Brennan, “especially having been the construction company that built the original one.

“It was very exciting for all of us, and was the first significant win we’d had since new owners, Lipman Group, bought the company.”

The business was sold to the state-wide Lipman Group in early 2017, with the Bennett name being retained. That makes sense given that the Lismore-based company has been synonymous with building excellence since its inception in 1938 and considered a local success story.

The company also built Lismore City Hall in 1963 and returned to the site in 2014 for its refurbishment. So it does seem to be a case of when you are on to a good thing – stick to it.

“Whilst most of our clientele at the moment is in health infrastructure, the department of education and aged care, we’ve also been part of some amazing commercial tourism products.” says Marty.

A major achievement on the list being Bennett’s work on the world-famous Elements of Byron Resort in Byron Bay. Marty and his team’s design and construction of the resort’s main pavilion buildings took out the Best Hospitality Building award at the Master Builders Association Awards in 2016.

“That’s been our premier project locally,” says Marty. “We used world-first technology and the design has won both national and international awards.

“It was really the springboard that allowed us to push on to larger projects, something we’d been working towards for some time.”

Being part of the Lipman Group has meant Bennett’s clientele now ranges from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast and across all of New South Wales. Yet Marty has made it a priority for Bennett to be firmly embedded in the Lismore community and the business’s actions and initiatives reflect that.

Sponsorship of both Wollongbar-Alstonville Rugby Club and Lennox Head Football Club are just two of the ways Bennett has thrown its support behind community organisations. The company is also devoted to providing opportunities and skills development to the local Indigenous community. And it’s fitting that much of this is based around the ongoing Ballina Coast High School project.

“There is an Aboriginal participation component to the delivery of this contract,” says Marty, “which includes both direct employment and indirect employment. So we’ve engaged Indigenous-owned contractors and employed Indigenous workers.”

It’s an ethic that is sure to see this much-loved Lismore business go from strength to strength, garnering plenty of community goodwill as it does so.

Share this story

Read more stories
rod n reel woodburn nortrhern rivers

reinventing a special highway town

 1920 1080 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Rod n Reel Hotel
Woodburn NSW is a charming riverside town with which is about to embark on a transformation. When the Pacific Highway bypass is completed…

all the best fine foods casino 001

our kitchen rules in the heart of beef country

 1000 664 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

All The Best Fine Foods
From little things big thing grow, goes the saying, and Casino-based business All The Best Fine Foods is certainly proof that humble….

nimbin valley dairy 003

love, peace and artisan cheese

 666 500 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Nimbin Valley Dairy
Not every goat in Australia has its own nutritionist and its own vet. But the goats at Nimbin Valley Dairy definitely do. Bill, the nutritionist…

The Natural Rice Co.

 940 627 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

The Natural Rice Co.
The Natural Rice Co. (NRC) is a unique enterprise not just in the Northern Rivers, but in a national context too.

Generational innovation

 1440 1080 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Australian Bay Lobster Producers
Thenus australiensis. Moreton Bay bugs. The Bay Lobster. Whatever nomenclature you want to use, there is no doubt that these crustaceans are a much-loved staple of Australian seafood menus.

lights, camera, action in ballina shire

 2560 1750 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Byron Studios
Northern Rivers has long been a hub for film makers and a popular backdrop for film and television productions. But there has been one thing missing to tie it all together…

Delivering top service, come hospital or high water

 870 652 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

McLeans Freight Service
When Leisa Blok’s father, Laurie McLean, began running urgent nighttime blood deliveries from Lismore airport in 1992, he mightn’t have expected the one-man gig to expand into a 50-vehicle courier fleet, delivering across the entire northern NSW region.

Evans Head Cabinetry 001

carefully crafted business success

 2000 1041 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Evans Head Cabinet Making
“People often say, ‘They don’t build things like they used to’,” says fine furniture and cabinet maker Justin Crisp. “But I can confidently say…”

tripadeal_byron_bay

fastest growing, remains humble and local

 1000 667 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

TripADeal
For TripADeal, the figures speak for themselves: revenue in excess of $100million for 2017; 75,000 travellers sent to various…

biggy pop sings support for matilda

 2048 2560 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital
In 2020, Iggy Pop received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys; in the same year his pet cockatoo, named Biggy Pop, became the founding patron of Byron Wildlife Hospital…

Keeping it real in the Tweed

 1706 2560 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Tweed Real Food
Tweed Real Food is a business launched in 2018 from a desire to be resilient. Little did founder Julia Foyster know how prescient her plan would turn out to be.

Cool to be kind and cans it

 957 1277 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

The Kind Coffee Co.
The KIND Coffee Co, reflects its name in everything it does.

Townsend taproom breakthrough brews

 1123 627 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Sanctus Brewing Co.
When Sanctus Brewing Co. began life in 2019, there was no indication that the brewery would go on to enjoy the immense success it has over the last three years.

Flexing the entrepreneurial muscle

 2560 1707 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Summit Sport & Fitness
Like many Northern Rivers businesses, Summit Sport & Fitness has undergone immense change in 2022 – except, rather than being buffeted by floods or pandemic, these changes are positive, and mark a new chapter for owner Matthew George.

Clean green superfood team

 768 1024 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Foods That Love You Back
Health activist Erle Astrup founded Foods That Love You Back in January 2021, and her business – which has created the world’s first affordable, alkaline shot of concentrated microgreens – is infused with the passion she has for driving it.

Hovering across the wave of success

 1139 749 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Fliteboard
It was meant to be an extended break for David Trewern and his family. A chance to rest and reset in Byron Bay after decades of building and selling fast-growing digital marketing agencies. But as he looked out over Belongil beach in 2014, an idea struck him.

cape byron distellery 002

spirit of the rainforest

 960 540 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Cape Byron Distillery
Let’s forget the beaches for a moment, as the true lifeblood of the Northern Rivers landscape is surely its rainforests, some of the most botanically…

herb blanchard haulage

in for the long haul

 1024 682 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Herb Blanchard Haulage
If you happen to be in the ‘jacaranda city’ of Grafton or its surrounds and you see a big blue truck out on the roads, the chances are its part of the…

ahead of time on equality and agility

 1000 667 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Hurford Hardwood
When Olive Hurford told the bank manager she’d be looking after the accounts of her husband’s new building company, the story goes…

A walk on the wild side

 1245 933 In Good Company | Northern Rivers

Vision Walks Eco Tours
Wendy Bithell has built her multi-award-winning eco-tourism business, Vision Walks – Eco Tours, by combining her two areas of expertise: ecology and technology. Her Byron hinterland adventures are as diverse as nature walks with night vision goggles, Indigenous bush tucker tours, and three-day women’s indulgence escapes.

Start Typing

X