GRAPH - Key Persons
Ben Stainton is a newcomer at Graph, having commenced employment in early August 2023, when he took up one of our Project Manager positions, which had just been vacated. It was an important appointment for Graph: we needed a person with the right technical skills and experience of course but, even more importantly in this particular instance, we needed a person with the right personal qualities.
Ben described himself as, "a considerate, charismatic and enthusiastic professional with a focus on teamwork and quality", and it's a fitting description: Ben is a very good addition to the Graph team and he's here for the long term.
Ben's previous employment in the industry has mostly been with one other builder, where he was involved in a diversity of building types, and a wide range of contract values for both private and public clients. He has excellent skills in building relationships with clients and subcontractors, which is critical to Graph's ongoing success in the construction industry.
Daniel King commenced work with Graph in February 2015, when he was still an undergraduate. His undergraduate studies were initially undertaken on a full-time basis on the Callaghan campus, but his final year was completed part-time so that he could obtain industry experience with Graph. During this final year, Daniel was employed as a labourer/first aid officer, gaining "hands-on" experience on a project involving a major refurbishment of a licenced club, Wests Cardiff ($11.8m).
In 2016, Daniel moved into the role of Contract Administrator, where he assisted Graph's Project Managers in the administration of a wide range of projects, including the refurbishment of Wests City ($11.0m), a substantial upgrade of The Anchorage, Port Stephens ($8.0m), a new high-end residence at Corlette ($3.5m), Riverlink Maitland ($4.0m) and Shortland Waters Golf Club ($7.3m).
Daniel subsequently moved into managing his own projects and, early in 2019, was appointed to the position of Project Manager, where he has quickly grown and developed. His projects have included a number of refurbishment projects for Belmont 16s (a licenced club on the shores of Lake Macquarie), a medium density public housing project for the NSW Land and Housing Corporation, a number of single dwellings, one of which is located in a flame zone, two separate aged care projects for Jewells Lifestyle Community (each contract around $5m), several projects in public schools, and three refurbishment projects at Western Suburbs (N'cle) Leagues Club.
Dan is building his career on a solid base of qualifications and experience, and is enthusiastic about working in the industry for a long time to come.
Job Titles:
- Project Manager / General Manager, Housing Division
David Howard commenced his working life with Westfield Design and Construction and, following the completion of the upgrading of the Tuggerah Regional Shopping Centre, he moved to work with the Linx Group on the central coast of NSW. He then worked with Graph for two years prior to moving to the USA in 2009.
During his time overseas he was employed by Kettering Health Network (KHN), a private healthcare provider based in Dayton, Ohio. At KHN, David was responsible for the delivery of a wide range of projects across many of KHN's eight hospitals, and its several health centres. At the time of his resignation, to return home to Newcastle, he held the position of Director of Construction Management, controlling all KHN's projects from concept to final design, through the construction process, to completion, commissioning and operation.
David returned to Newcastle, with his young family, in 2015, and now manages the construction of selected commercial projects as well as Graph's housing division - see Graph Residential. David is one of the owners of Graph Building.
Dean Lawrence commenced employment with Graph early in 2010, when he took up the position of Estimator. At the time, it was a new position, established to expand our estimating capability under the watchful eye of our widely experienced, and well respected, Company Estimator. The expansion was not only directed at winning more work, but it also reflected the growing complexity of the estimating process, where an ever-increasing level of documentation needs to be addressed during a tender period.
Prior to joining Graph, Dean had worked with another local builder as a Project Manager, where he obtained a good grounding in the local building industry. In particular, he developed an excellent appreciation of the structure of the building industry, where subcontractors undertake the physical work, making good relationships with good subcontractors a fundamental requirement for a successful building business.
Dean readily adapted to the role of Estimator, and to Graph's approach of carefully evaluating all trade quotes received, and not just selecting the lowest for each trade and "adding them up".
In July 2019, Dean took on the role of Company Estimator, and has subsequently managed the estimating department with distinction. With the conflicting objectives of being both competitive and profitable, the Company Estimator's role is a highly responsible one. Dean has been very successful in winning projects by competitive tender but, when clients have appreciated the benefits of a higher level of involvement from Graph, Dean has also provided budgets from concept/feasibility stage through to DA/CC, then to final tender. Dean is one of the owners of Graph Building.
Job Titles:
- Construction Manager
- NSW Qualified Supervisor Certificate No 56619S, Clerk of Works Certificate, Carpentry and Joinery Certificate
John was born and bred in Newcastle and began working in the construction industry in 1983 as a first-year apprentice Carpenter/Joiner with Belmont based D F McCloy Pty Ltd. John completed his trade course and his Clerk of Works Certificate over the next six years.
John's leadership and management ability were recognised very early in his career when, as a fourth-year apprentice, he was appointed to the position of Site Manager. His early experience in that role was predominately in the construction of medium density housing, which is an ideal form of construction to learn and hone one's skills in sequencing and quality control. Over the fifteen years that John spent in the role of Site Manager, his experience extended into a wide range of projects, including schools, aged care facilities, commercial projects, hospitality and club projects.
When McCloys sold the building business in 1999, John came across to Graph. In 2002, he was appointed to a Project Manager position in Graph Building, in which role he managed a similar range of projects. Many of them are landmark projects within Newcastle and the Hunter Region, which have won prestigious MBA Awards for Excellence in Construction.
However, most of John's experience as a Project Manager has been in clubs and hotels, where he has delivered an impressive list of projects to a number of clients but, in particular, Wests Group Australia. Many of his projects have been refurbishments, carried out in facilities which have continued to operate throughout the course of the work. Although John has been in a management role for many years, it remains that his trade background, coupled with his attention to detail, has equipped him to provide practical and cost-effective solutions to issues which inevitably arise in the course of renovation and refurbishment projects.
In 2017, John took on the role of Construction Manager at Graph, which allows his skills and expertise to benefit Graph's projects generally, and John is one of the owners of Graph Building.
Reece Newton commenced employment with Graph at the start of 2023, when he took up the position of Project Manager, primarily working on residential construction. For a young man, Reece has a strong background in residential building, which began while he was an undergraduate: after completing the first year of Construction Management on a full-time basis, Reece completed the last three quarters of the degree part-time so that he could work as a building coordinator for a residential builder based in Toronto, NSW. He subsequently worked for other local builders involved in medium density construction (five years) and high-end residential and commercial construction (eighteen months) prior to joining Graph.
At Graph, Reece has been managing the construction of a number of single dwellings, as well as some multi-dwelling housing projects.As time goes on, he will also take on the management of some of our commercial building projects.
Reece has been involved in all aspects of building projects: from take-offs and estimating through to the finalisation of contracts, and including the pre-construction stage. He's committed to providing superior service to clients, and delivering buildings of enduring quality.
Ross started his career with NSW Public Works in 1974 and worked on a range of public infrastructure projects, including the Carrington Grain Terminal upgrade that brought him to Newcastle in 1985, and the construction of the initial stage of the John Hunter Hospital.
He moved into private employment in 1988, when he joined the McCloy Group as a Project Manager and where he subsequently held the position of General Manager from 1993 to 2007.
Ross has been the General Manager of Graph, and one of its owners, since it began in 1999 (holding the General Manager position in both organisations until resigning from the McCloy Group in 2007).
Extensive experience in property development is part of Ross's make-up, and he's always available and willing to provide relevant advice to clients.
Ross is well known in the regional building industry and is widely regarded as the chief executive of a business that operates to the highest levels of integrity.
Following completion of his Associate Diploma in Accounting, Scott Coburn began his working life in the role of Assistant Accountant with the McCloy Group in 1997, and undertook further study, part time, to obtain his Bachelor of Commerce degree. When Graph commenced operations on 1 July 1999, Scott was part of the administration team that moved across to Graph, and he took on the role of Financial Controller for the new entity. It's a role he continues to fill, but a role which has changed and grown over the past couple of decades.
Today, Scott's role includes:
in-house accounting for the various Graph entities, including ATO and ASIC compliance requirements;
managing the general administrative and support services within the business, including IT and our computer system;
overseeing cost control and profit projections on individual building projects;
addressing the financial assessments and projections required by government clients;
arranging and managing general insurances.
Scott is a CPA and is recognised as being exceptionally diligent and professional in his work. He is one of the owners of Graph Building, and is a key member of the Graph management team.