Seizing opportunity for change

Published 7:30am 5 January 2021

Stanley Roads in Brendale weathered the COVID-19 shutdown keeping all its staff - and is now benefitting from having to do things ‘differently’.

Before the pandemic, business was “going smoothly” for the family-owned construction company, says tendering manager Sandra Stanley, with “months of orders and work on a second asphalt plant”.

As a leader in industry research and development, Stanley Roads was also a finalist in the Innovation Excellence category of the 2019 Moreton Bay Business Excellence and Innovation Awards.

More resilient

When the pandemic struck, the impact for Stanley Roads was initially through its industry links in Europe and especially Italy.

“It was a severe impact, but business here went on,” says Sandra. “We never shut and retained all staff, which was great.

“COVID forced us to do things differently. To think outside the box and be more resilient. We forged alliances we didn’t have before.

“We reassessed. Looked at opportunities and diverted our efforts.”

Long-term gain

The pandemic effectively kick-started a process which, in the long run, may prove to be for the benefit of the company.

Pre-COVID, Stanley Roads business was around 90 per cent from the public sector and 10 per cent from private companies … but not now.

The Brendale business bought in a sales force and has tipped the balance more towards sourcing work from the private sector.

Bigger base

“With a sales force we now have a larger customer base and we are looking at modifications for the plant,” says Sandra.

Other areas are also under review such as using tyres, which would have gone to landfill, to make asphalt. Ten tyres can make one tonne of asphalt.

Stanley Roads goes back more than 50 years and comprises Stanley Road Construction, Stanley Asphalt, Stanley Resource Recovery and Stanley Equipment Solutions.

Leading the way

The asphalt manufacturing division is an industry leader in ‘next generation’ technologies while the Roads section has plant producing asphalt mixes using RAP (reclaimed asphalt pavements), plastics, crushed glass and crumbed rubber.

Stanley Roads has done work on the Gateway Motorway, Inner-City Bypass and RAAF Amberley. Eighty per cent of its business is repeat work from clients.

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