The Nomad Building Solutions group is a group of specialised companies that have been brought together by a series of strategic acquisitions since 2006. The original core of the business was the provision of modular building solutions, but the group is also now involved in property management, property development and in situ construction.

“The group was established via an Initial Public Offering (IPO) for the purpose of funding the expansion of the business and for the acquisition of other companies,” explains Group Managing Director Mr Alan Thomas. “Before 2006, the Nomad Modular Buildings business was a privately owned small business and there was a management buyout about a year before the IPO.

“The first business we bought was McGrath Homes, which builds and installs transportable houses. We then launched McGrath Project Housing in 2007, which undertakes multi-house contracts for resource companies, before launching the Lifestyle Living brand in April 2007. Then we acquired a company called Halley Homes over in Queensland in August 2007 and the last acquisition was the Rapley Wilkinson group of companies in February 2008.”

Buildings across the board

Mr Thomas is keen to emphasise that Nomad Building Solutions is more than just a fabricator of modular buildings. “Whenever people hear the word ‘Nomad’ they automatically think of transportable buildings going into construction camps,” he says, “but the message we want to get across is that modular is only one part of our business.

“The Rapley Wilkinson group of companies is a high-level construction business that has been undertaking in situ construction of houses, schools, hospitals, civic buildings, apartments and resorts for more than 30 years.” This company can also provide feasibility studies, land sourcing, design development, project management, and project marketing to source investors, operators, tenants and end owners.

“Nomad Modular Building specialises in temporary and permanent settlements like construction camps and mining villages. These range from single men's accommodation through to facilities buildings, such as kitchens, dining rooms, bars and gyms – all the support buildings you would see on any camp or village. We have produced camps and villages for up to 2,000 men. We also do the installation work – putting in the roads, sewers, power and all that kind of thing. We are involved in this activity both in Western Australia and in Queensland. 

“We also have two modular housing businesses. One is McGrath Homes, based here in Perth, and the other is Halley Homes in Queensland. The houses they manufacture are transported in sections to the various regional and remote locations where they are needed – which could be up to 2,000 km away.

“We currently have eight different manufacturing facilities in Perth and two facilities in Brisbane, Queensland,” continues Mr Thomas. “We also have our corporate office and the head offices of Rapley Wilkinson, McGrath Homes and Nomad Modular Building in Perth, Western Australia. The whole business employs about 250 staff, as well as about 700 contractors.”

In the market for quality buildings

With such a wide range of services offered, the Nomad Building Solutions group is involved in a broad spectrum of markets, as Mr Thomas explains: “Our markets range from state government, federal government, private investors and private owners; to the oil and gas sector, the iron ore sector and the gold mining sector. Up until recently, Western Australia was enjoying boom times and everyone was working flat out, but, of course, now the world is a different place. There is generally a lack of confidence in the resources and mining sector, but in the government work, with the stimulus packages, there is a lot of money still being spent.”

Giving examples of the scale of some of the recent projects undertaken by the companies in the group, Mr Thomas says: “Nomad Modular is doing a 1,500 person workers village for Woodside Petroleum in Karratha, that is a AU$ 55 million project. They have also done a 1,500 man camp for Boddington Gold, which was AU$46 million. The revenue from that part of our business exceeds AU $ 200 million a year. Then our Queensland modular building business did a 270 person camp for Lake Vermont Resources, which was worth AU$ 12 million. 

“McGrath Homes is currently halfway through a project for BHPBilliton in Mount Newman, which has a value of AU$ 85 million, and the Rapley Wilkinson business is doing a 130 person resort in Broome in the north of Western Australia, which is a AU$ 42 million project.”

Another development being undertaken by Rapley Wilkinson is a beach shack development at Preston Beach, south of Perth. 

This AU$ 50 million project will comprise 102 beach shacks and 28 larger two-storey houses in a similar style. Amenities on the site include a restaurant, two heated swimming pools, barbecue areas, a tennis court and a children's playground. This is the first of a series of similar developments that the company will be undertaking. 

The group's approach to health and safety and quality control is one of the major reasons for repeat business from the high profile customers that the Nomad group has worked with. “We treat health and safety very seriously,” asserts Mr Thomas. “Whenever you work with resource companies, it is something that they demand. Also, from the board level of our business down, we demand that all of our operations treat health and safety as their number one priority. 

“We also have a quality management system in place and we have various test plans and inspection procedures for all of our products, whether it is built in a factory or constructed on-site,” he adds.

A complete, flexible solution

The group is called Nomad Building Solutions because it does just that – it offers complete building solutions for its customers. “We have the people and the skill set to be able to respond to the requirements of any client. So if a customer comes to us and says: ʻ’Look, I need 100 houses in Port Headland and I need someone to do it,’ we have a solution to fit it. In our group of companies we can go and source the land, we can develop that land into residential sub-divisions – doing the roads and in-ground services – we can design the development and we can construct the houses, whether they are built in situ or in the factory. We can project manage the whole process and we can even arrange funding if need be.

“Again, if a client says: ʻI need a 1,000 man construction camp,’ we can go and do all the design work, the project management and the delivery of the whole thing. This is a core strength of our business that I don't believe any of our competitors have,” he adds.

Designs for the future

The construction industry has always been competitive, but in the present global economic climate, companies must use every means possible to keep up with the market. Mr Thomas is clear on the challenges facing the Nomad group of companies: “We need to meet cost control, we need to meet quality control and we need to be flexible for our wide range of clients: flexible in the way we design things and flexible in the way we build things. Above all, one of our biggest challenges going forward is to remain competitive by not taking any client for granted. We just have to keep our eye on the ball.” 

Innovative design is one of the activities Mr Thomas highlights in the group's efforts to remain at the forefront of the market. “We have in-house designers in all of our business units,” he reports, “and their on-going challenge is to come up with something different that appeals to people. 

“Within our housing companies, whether that is Rapley Wilkinson or McGrath Homes, the designers are continually designing new houses to meet the latest trends, the latest environmental standards and also to fit into whatever location in which the product might go. And Nomad Modular has just designed a new two storey accommodation unit for villages, which is unique. 

“Another innovative practice is to build and transport our modular houses on concrete slabs. We are constantly examining what we do in the light of new technology. For example, even though the design and construction of our concrete floors has been proven over 20 years, we are researching new concrete slab technology and we are looking at new steel frame technology. The materials we use meet all the environmental regulations, they are value for money and they provide a lot of flexibility in what we are able to supply to our customers.” 

Consolidating the group

While the group has a significant presence in both Western Australia and Queensland, Mr Thomas points out that opportunities in other parts of the country are constantly being investigated: “We wouldn't go and set up in another State and then hope we can get some business there, but if an opportunity arose and we won a major project in another State, we would use that contract to establish a presence in that location. Those opportunities are around, for example BHP/Billiton is developing a big project called Olympic Dam in Roxby Downs in South Australia, so we have put in submissions for housing and construction camps. Our preference, if we were successful, would be to do any manufacturing in Western Australia or in Queensland and then transport the units to Roxby Downs.” 

As the group looks to the future, Mr Thomas explains that one of the most important tasks is the consolidation of activities between the different companies: “Because of all the acquisitions we have done in the past two years, we are putting in a new ERP computer system across the group to centralise parts of our business, rather than having all the individual entities doing the same thing. 

“We are also investigating centralising all our modular building businesses in Western Australia onto one site, rather than the eight sites at present. We would do this to avoid duplication of costs and to improve our competitiveness. We also want to take the Rapley Wilkinson business model Australia-wide when market conditions suit. In all this we want to stay one step ahead of our competitors,” he concludes. 

Despite the comparatively recent establishment of the group, Nomad Building Solutions Limited has an enviable range of high-quality and well-known brands in modular buildings, modular housing and insitu construction. With an ability to offer a complete and integrated range of services to meet whatever needs a customer may have, the group is in a strong position to expand throughout Australia.