Building People Series with Baxter Projects

We sat down with Steve Baxter, Director and Founder and Marc Heatley, Senior Project Manager at Baxter Projects in the latest edition of our Building People Series. They shared a great insight into where Baxter Projects specialises in the construction industry, what makes Baxter Projects a unique company and what life at the boutique builder is like for their team.

Beginning of Baxter Projects

Steve founded Baxter Projects in 2016 after making the decision to move out on his own and grew the business organically in the early stages through connections in the construction industry.

Leaning on these relationships created a strong company ethos of ‘repeat work, done well’ that enabled Baxter Projects to establish itself as a boutique builder in the commercial construction space.

Steve is a plumber by trade and quickly transitioned into carpentry before progressing into being a foreman and site manager, where his career flourished with leadership opportunities on big, complex projects.

Marc began his career in IT, project managing large teams, before a career change at 30 years old into the construction industry where he was a carpenter. His leadership experience managing teams and projects progressed him into being a Senior Project Manager at Baxter Projects. Today, he manages a team of eight direct reports and has up to six live projects at any given time.

Sector Specialisation of Baxter Projects

Repeat work, done well has given Baxter Projects the foundation to nurture on-going relationships with clients and move deeper into sector experience for growth.

They specialise in education and health construction – live environments – industries that require building partners to understand complex elements to ensure a smooth delivery.

Monash University, Australian Unity, Healthscope and Ramsay Health are a number of repeat clients, along with Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) in the southern Melbourne region.

These relationships provide a healthy pipeline of activity for Baxter Projects allowing them to build a presence in the Mornington area and southern suburbs of Melbourne.

What makes Baxter Projects unique?

Beyond their sector specialisation, they specialise in technical, complex work in live environments where you continuously learn and about the requirements of the project that you wouldn’t experience in other sectors.

One example Marc noted was understanding medical gases in live health environments, which add an extra layer of complexity during the build that can be addressed in planning phases – instead of the construction norm of reacting to unknown, which can cause delays in projects.

In new employees, they look for people that are thinkers, outside of the box, planners and forward thinkers, people interested in continuous learning. Strong methodology with project lifecycle and stakeholder management, something very clear in Baxter’s delivery process that drives repeat work with existing clients.

Life at Baxter Projects

It’s a family business with a family vibe who are tight as a unit. Collective, non-intrusive culture without micro-management in a flat structure gives them an opportunity to work closely without distracting hierarchy and red tape.

Bridging the gap between office and site, reducing the divide to bring them closer together, remains a priority at Baxter Projects. Fortnightly golf days are an option for the team to come together in a casual setting to unwind and Friday afternoons are a staple in their company culture.

Baxter Projects try to remain 5-days per week and any work on the weekend is rewarded with a time-in-lieu that can be used toward the closing stages of a project to catch up on personal time missed.

Ready to join a boutique builder that values your continuous learning approach to construction? Learn more about life at Baxter and follow them for future available roles.