DAVID BULL BULL BROS EARTHMOVING

Written by Sarah Goh

David Bull’s welcome cuts through the winter chill. Here’s the boss who stands by his claim: ‘When it comes down to earth, we’re the best in town!’

I’ve come to find out why.

Born and bred in Naracoorte, the third-generation civil contractor and scion of a dynasty is eager to tell the story of the family business he and his brother Robert own.

Bull Bros Earthmoving

According to David, Grandpa William (Bill) Bull started his carting business using a Ford Truck in 1950. Over time, general earthmoving and bitumen spraying services were added. Later, he was joined by his son, Trevor, who in 1982, along with wife Marlene, purchased it and started trading as TF & MJ Bull.

“I’ve always had an interest, watching Dad with his machinery and plant,” says David. “School holidays visiting him on work sites and helping him out. As I grew older, I started helping him out more. When I left school, I went straight into the business working. And I reckon it would have been five years after I started, Dad had a bad back, he’s had a bad back for years… I had only been in the business for those few years, four of them out in the field operating plant when Dad had his back operation. Mum used to run the office and secretarial stuff. When Dad was recovering, she was obviously away with him, so I had to start taking charge and organising things. Dad was away for four months. It was pretty much sink or swim!”

By the time Trevor had a second operation, Robert had joined the business. In 2008, they bought over TF & MJ Bull, renaming it Bull Bros Earthmoving. “And yeah, here we are now. I’ve got both my boys here with me in the business and I want to step back and relax, spend time with grandkids, and go on holidays.”

Bull Bros Earthmoving has been growing steadily from the late 1990s and early 2000s when the vineyards took off, and the company expanded to cater for the viticulture industry.

“When that blew past, we had the blue gums… the gum plantations bought out a lot of the farming properties. We were involved in putting in the trees, development, cleaning up…”

And then with land development and housing subdivision work taking off in the early to mid-2000s the company expanded again, incorporating changes in skill set requirements. That was followed by government work like school maintenance and upgrading projects.

“And before long, it was time to harvest the blue gums, most of which were planted on gutless sandy country and needed road construction so they can truck them. Today, we still do a reasonable amount of road construction for gum harvesting work.”

Another growth spurt happened when the company became a mix agent for Holcim in 1990s and operational diversifications were introduced to supply builders and contractors in the area.

“About four years ago, we separated from Holcim, bought its plant, and aligned ourselves with Hallett Concrete.” That plant has since been upgraded massively. With additional acquisitions like vehicles and a semi bolt, Bull Bros Earthmoving can supply regularly to Penola, Border Town, and surrounding areas. Also, the affiliation with Hallett Concrete, and investment in their branding expertise and knowledge, are paying dividends

(especially when meeting the specific project requirements of Acciona).

While capable of covering a larger area, the business predominantly covers a 50km radius from Naracoorte.

“We also run three concrete trucks in Adelaide. So, we have pretty much the one unit now that supplies the plant with the materials up to the mark.”

The business has morphed into a mixed entity since the 1990s recession. With concrete, earthmoving, bitumen, and roadwork happening all at once in the past 10 years, it is now a big operation. The company even does 99% of the upgrade works for the abattoirs there.

“You don’t get bored!” says the boss.

The Bulls pride themselves as a family-oriented company. Extended family members have worked in the business at various times, which can be challenging. David talks it out and works through issues with those involved. It’s something he tries to teach his boys (Louis and Josh) which is not easy, but it’s a quality he believes they need to succeed. He learned this from working with Rob who focuses on field operations while he oversees office matters.

Back then, when there were just the two brothers, he could get office help readily from Rob. “It was also lucky nothing had happened to me. Rob would have had to step in, in the office. I’m sure he would have coped but it would have drained him. Something I don’t want my boys to do. Louis is in the office and Josh is out in the field. He started with field operations but now does a bit of project management. But I’ve stressed he needs to come into the office as well because you just can’t afford to rely on one person. If necessary, Josh needs to be able to step up and take control.”

With 22 staff in Naracoorte and 3 in Adelaide, the boss seems to be in cruise control. He doesn’t profess to know everything, nor the best way to do things. “I’ll never ask anyone to do anything I won’t do. But if I ask you to do something, and you think there’s a better way to do it, tell me. We’ll work it out and get the job done.”

His mantra? “You work to live; you don’t live to work. You need to work, you need to go home, you need to live.”

Hence, working outside the normal work hours, or away from home, is rare. That’s the sort of square deal he offers as an employer. No surprise then there are many long-serving staff, and they know the clients. Which augments the sense of organisational stability. “At the end of the day, if you don’t have clients, you don’t have business,” says David.

He is equally proud of his mean machines, especially the twin steer trucks that are almost unheard of in Australia (they carry more load and go where normal trucks simply cannot), and the recently acquired UTS station, a total system for machine control.

With COVID-19, David acknowledges it has been good for people’s understanding of QR codes. They now feature on literally every bit of plant equipment. Even in project management. “The electronic world makes it so much easier to access data. But AI? That’s a bit scary…”

While he invests in resources to keep up with demand changes and technological advances, he maintains a flexible approach to cater to his ever-changing business goals.

WHERE TO FROM HERE?

With the business at a sustainable and manageable size now, the entrepreneur has little desire to turn it into a very big beast. “I just want to maintain customer relations and be able to fulfill their expectations without the need to go out and chase after bigger markets.”

That, I guess, is a sign of contentment and a mark of achievement.

Away From Work

Go-karting is a big part of away-fromwork life. After sponsoring the local karting club as a business in 2007, the family got into the hobby in ‘a pretty big way’. “All three kids have their own go-karts, and we started racing locally. There were years we raced in 33 race meetings between February and November. Nearly every weekend, we were packed up on a Friday night after work – Roxby Downs, Port Pirie… come home Sunday night, jump into bed, and go to work on Monday morning. After getting the kids into bed I would give the cars a clean and get things ready for the next weekend!”

A memorable trip in 2011 saw the Bulls race on every track in WA for three weeks! Then, when the kids were in high school, they would just fly there for the weekend, with Mum and Dad towing the gear on a trailer. The Bulls have even flown to Weipa in far north Queensland, freighting their go-karts in shipping containers.

“We spend a lot of our time as a family. A justification for not spending a lot of the time with the kids when I was always at work.”

The entire clan hops on the go-kart bandwagon. Granddaughter Sophie got her first go-kart last Christmas when she was only five months old. “Her go-kart stays inside the house, she hops in there and goes ‘Broom, broom, broom!’” gushes Grandpa with excitement… and a tear? (No bull!)

THE BOSS’ WISH FOR CIVIL CONSTRUCTION

“I’d like to see a lot more of the rural work stay with the rural contractors. Unfortunately, we get a lot of the bigger companies from Adelaide working on the projects.”

He notices a lot of inefficiencies happening, which is surprising with those companies, but the government appears to be setting standards that are unachievable for rural contractors. The city contractors who win a large chunk of the tenders bring their own workers even though a lot of the locals can do the same work. Apparently, most of the work is now done by one big contractor. Regrettably, it’s a problem with no quick fix.

To help, the Bulls take in students to train at the company two days a week (and attend school for three days) and during the school holidays. That helps them find out if it’s what they want/don’t want to do after finishing school. “The country still gets left out a bit compared to our city counterparts. We try to do what we can for the community.”

For now, the big question is, will the next generation continue with the business? “Potentially yes, but that’s entirely up to them; it’s their decision,” came the answer.

I leave convinced this boss is down to earth, and his business is the best in town. The future is looking bullish for the dynasty to continue.

Bull Bros Earthmoving

P: 08 8762 1715

E: ADMIN@BULLBROS.COM.AU