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Taylor has announced its new senior Industrial team is in place with the hire of new Construction Manager Metin Tokcan. The newly-expanded team will deliver a significantly increased Industrial capability, building on Taylor’s existing reputation for excellence in delivery of large-scale industrial projects.

Metin Tokcan joins Jerry Fanos, who joined Taylor as the new General Manager Industrial in January 2022, and Taylor’s Pre-Construction Manager Daniel Bacic, who has been with Taylor for approximately seven years.

Metin brings 15 years’ experience in commercial and industrial construction experience, having joined Taylor from Hansen Yuncken and previously worked at CIP (ESR Australia) and Lendlease.

Over his career, Metin has worked with high-profile clients such as ESR Australia, Logos, Frasers Property Industrial, Aliro, Goodman, Charter Hall, Qube Holdings, Altis Property Partners, Quintessential Equity, Multiplex Capital and Stockland.

High-profile projects that Metin has led as a Construction Manager include the Target Australia Distribution Centre, the Williams Sonoma Warehouse Development, Barangaroo South Tower One, and other large-scale office and warehouse developments.

Since joining in 2012, Aaron has built a strong reputation as our sustainability champion, developing and implementing important initiatives across the organisation. It is no surprise that this passion for sustainable environmental design and engineering is reflected in his work as ESD Engineer. 

Responsible for contributing to the process and technical management of Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD), Aaron is focused on ESD value management and compliance from tender through to project completion across an array of projects. 

His commitment to sustainability does not go unnoticed. Aaron played a pivotal role in securing a 6-Star Interiors v1.1 Green Star rating for the SOPA Office Fitout within Boomerang Tower at Sydney Olympic Park. This project scored the highest Green Star Rating available and is considered a World Leadership benchmark for built environments across the globe.  

On behalf of Team Taylor, we would like to express our sincere appreciation and thanks to Aaron. His ingenuity, perseverance and commitment has been a huge part of our journey and success, and we are so grateful for his efforts.

Ultimately, safety is a shared responsibility and, as part of Taylor’s continuous commitment to workplace health and safety (WHSE), our senior leaders delivered a powerful seminar on the importance of a safe, inclusive environment.  

Moderated by CEO George Bardas and Head of WHSE, Andrew Andreou, attendees heard from Executives on their personal commitment to WHSE, in addition to guest speaker David Crawford who discussed the physical and emotional challenges he faced after a workplace accident, before playing a pivotal role in workplace safety reforms. 

Jerry Fanos, Stephen Williams, Chris Bellemore, Ben Folkard and Phillip Bermingham demonstrated their commitment to strengthening Taylor’s positive safety culture, and emphasised the dual ownership for workplace safety across site, project and senior leadership. Encouraging the reporting of safety opportunities, the panel expressed their support for speaking directly with all onsite workers regarding the continual improvement of safety systems and processes.  

Phil Bermingham said, “Safety has always got to be the top priority. If it’s a call of productivity over safety, then safety must always come first.”  

George Bardas added, “Safety always comes first. We need to look after the construction worker next to us, always assessing what risks are present and how they can be managed. We share a collective responsibility to risk management and building strong safety outcomes.”

KARI Limited’s Community Unity Event is an all-inclusive celebration of community and culture. Hosted annually in April, Unity Day aims to support Aboriginal people and community by providing a one stop shop to immerse themselves in cultural activities, one on one educative consultations, and community activations.

With culture at the forefront of planning, Unity Day also provides the wider community the opportunity to learn about and explore Aboriginal culture in an inclusive and supported environment.

Our Volunteers focused on engaging with young people to discuss pursuing studies and careers in engineering and construction management. It was great to see young people enthusiastically discussing their own interest in mathematics, for example, or future jobs in the construction sector.

As a business built on fostering meaningful relationships, Taylor is committed to partnering with organisations like Kari to help to increase cultural awareness, connection and opportunity across our own organisation. Connection to place and connection to people are fundamental drivers for our business and we would like to thank Kari for the opportunity to Volunteer and contribute to the success of Unity Day 2022!

@BuiltEnvironmentAssociationUTS @Kari_Australia #community #reconciliation #careersinconstruction

Our annual Taylor Charity Golf Day took place last Friday, 25th March 2022, where we welcomed many of our subcontractors and suppliers to participate in a day of golf, friendly competition, networking and, most importantly, fundraising activities to support the Sporting Chance Cancer Foundation.

This is Taylor’s sixth consecutive year of hosting our Charity Golf Day which has established itself as a significant milestone on our annual calendar. Together, we have raised more than $350K to help make a difference by supporting the valuable work of our chosen charities.

For the third year in a row, Taylor is excited to partner with Sporting Chance Cancer Foundation, an organisation committed to providing financial support for mobile home care units and outreach programs for regional families with children undergoing treatment for cancer.

Over the last 24 months, due to Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns the Foundation has unfortunately had to cancel numerous fundraising events. During this challenging time, Taylor is proud to have raised over $200K for the Sporting Chance Cancer Foundation – contributing towards the key funding for nurses in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide for their outreach programs.

On Friday we were joined by Former Australian Cricket Captain, Australian of the Year and founder of Sporting Chance Cancer Foundation, Mark Taylor, and Director, Jack Hughes, who gave insights into the life-changing work of the foundation. Mark also paid tribute to his former teammate and dear friend, Shane Warne, reflecting on some of his greatest moments and sharing some treasured memories.

We were also joined by special guest, Bridget McGinley, one of two NSW Clinical Nurse Consultants who operate several of the Sporting Chance outreach programs for kids with cancer. Bridget shared a couple of powerful stories on the direct impact the outreach program has had on a number of kids and their families. Bridget has played a valuable role in allowing many children from rural areas to stay in the comfort of their own homes for as long as possible and maintain as much normality in their family and day-to-day life as possible.

Taylor would like to thank our Major Sponsor, Raston Group, as well as all our loyal suppliers and subcontractors. Without their generous support the success of the day would not be possible. Specifically, we would like to acknowledge the following sponsors.

Images show #TeamTaylor completing upgrades to the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (SOPAC).

Constructed in1994, the centre encompasses Leisure, Training, Competition and Utility Pools, Health Club and various recreational spaces.

As a venue during the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games, SOPAC played host to a number of iconic sporting moments and events. In the years following SOPAC continued operations as Sydney’s leading aquatic centre hosting a variety of annual competitive swimming events and open to the general public for recreational use.

Final touches to tiling and finishes draws an end to the works carried out by Taylor over recent months, including upgrades and remedial scope within SOPAC Training and Leisure pools, amenities, plant and concourse areas.

Great work by the Taylor SOPAC team.

#construction #design #aquaticcentre #sportsfacilities #refurbishment

Taylor employees, industry partners, clients and university students heard from an esteemed panel of women leaders in construction on their own personal experiences in the industry, centred on the 2022 #BreaktheBias theme. 

The panel, moderated by CEO of the Property Industry Foundation, Kate Mills, was focused on conversation between Alex O’Mara, Principal of the Sustainable Solutions Advisory, Kristine Marshall, Senior Project Manager, Taronga Conservation Society, Ziggy Napier, Head of Major Projects & Commercial, Sydney Opera House, and Taylor CEO George Bardas.  

Each panellist opened up about the hurdles and challenges they had faced and overcome in the workplace, offering advice to the 120 women and men in attendance. 

Covering topics such gender equity policies and industry targets, leadership and teamwork, and elevating the conversations beyond just women-focused events, the panel expressed their feelings: 

“Equal representation isn’t just an outcome it’s also a pre-requisite to actually achieving equity,” expressed Ziggy Napier.  

Kristine Marshall said: “We spend so much time with the people we work with, so we need to make sure we build positive relationships.” The panel agreed that collaborating with one’s team and understanding their balance of professional and personal priorities (particularly in a world with the pandemic, where work and home life cross so easily) is key to any meaningful and successful working relationship.  

Touching on parental policies and working with children, Alex O’Mara added: “We need to think of parenting as a couple’s responsibility, rather than a woman’s responsibility – that’s really a thing that is going to increase women’s participation in the workforce.” 

“One of the things that organisations can do is model that,” she explained.  

George Bardas weighed in, sharing: “Men are changing, and they are changing because they grew up in an environment where fathers were often the power figure; there is a bit of a generational gap to overcome, but I’m a firm believer that we are talking about things in the right way now and checking ourselves.    

“I’m hopeful that we’re moving in the right direction. I’m actually confident we are moving in the right direction, and I’m sure we will get there in 10 to 20 years.” 

Bringing the panel discussion to a close, Kate Mills said: “More women at the top is good, but lifting more women from the bottom is better – because when I think about International Women’s Day, I don’t necessarily think about the women in this room. I think about women who live in developing nations. I think about women who have experienced domestic violence. I think about women across the whole board who face disadvantage.”  

“How do we connect this conversation in here with that larger conversation out there? How can brands and corporations help?”  

The panel shared the following recommendations:  

• Set realistic and achievable targets and policies. If you don’t believe in them, nothing will happen. 
• Encourage men to take paternity and child-caring leave. 
• Be conscious of the decisions you make when hiring people, and decisions about project and role distributions; question your own potential bias. 
• Consider what your organisation can do to promote STEM education for women and girls.
• Review your ESG policies and ensure your diversity policies are best-practice.
• Create more part-time positions and job-share opportunities where possible. 

Concluding the discussion, George Bardas said: “To move forward together, we must educate ourselves and those around us. We all have a responsibility to take action on gender diversity in construction.”  

Taylor would like to thank the incredible panelists Alex, Kate, Kristine and Ziggy for sharing their stories and the lessons they have learned as female leaders in construction.