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Business success brings new money back into Latrobe Chris Thornton and his employees really do get around a bit, according to Investment Facilitator, Leo Billington from Council’s economic development team ‘Invest Latrobe’. By Latrobe City - 9th May 2003 - Back to News Mr Billington said Chris Thornton’s Moe based business, Insulmet Pty Ltd, and its seven employees, have been a vital part of many construction projects throughout Victoria and Tasmania.
"Insulmet specialises in sheet metal and insulation work to the industrial and commercial market. Their list of well known clients is growing at a fast rate and as word travels about what they can do, the future is looking very bright," Mr Billington said.
Mr Thornton explained that a majority of their businesses turnover is from work completed outside Latrobe City but it represents new money back into the municipality. "When my father-in-law and I established the business ten years ago, our objective was to grow while remaining loyal to our home turf, and we believe we have accomplished our aims," Mr Thornton explained."
Mr Billington said Chris is very parochial when he speaks about Latrobe City. "Born and raised in Morwell and with strong ties to Moe, it is when Chris acknowledges the success of Insulmet that he is not afraid to remember his younger days," Mr Billington said.
"Yes, Insulmet is well known throughout Victoria and interstate, but the people have done it. Our employees come from the Latrobe City community and together we have achieved some very significant goals," Mr Thornton said.
Insulmet has recently completed a contract for Aldi, the large supermarket chain from Germany. Insulmet was on site at Aldi’s new Victorian distribution centre at Laverton, the world’s largest, for almost three months, installing insulation and cladding for ammonia vessels and over 650 metres of piping.
"When Aldi decided to build in Victoria, their main refrigeration contractor, Cold Logic Pty Ltd knew about our capabilities. There was no hesitation in appointing Insulmet to undertake the work. We had an excellent track record from previous contracts," Mr Thornton said.
Other contracts completed by Insulmet include insulation and cladding at Kenman Kandy Confectionary, part of the Mars Confectionary conglomerate, based at Scoresby; and cladding installation to wine vessels at the Brown Brothers Milawa winery.
"Another specialised contract involved insulating over 750 metres of pipe work at a Shepparton cold storage facility. The owner was faced with the challenge of storing apples and pears before transportation to market so we were able to use our skills to complete the work with minimal interruption," Mr Thornton explained.
Previous work has been completed at Patties Bakery, Bega Cheese, National Foods, Nestle in Tongala, Pakenham and Mulgrave, Air Liquide in Altona, Kodak at Coburg, AquaTas Fish Processing in Hobart, Lactos Cheese in Burnie, the Toll National Transportation Centre and even on the Flounder oil rig in Bass Strait. A consultancy contract in Fiji earlier this year is also beginning to open up business opportunities.
Latrobe City Mayor, Councillor Graeme Middlemiss, in congratulating Insulmet on its successes, said the expertise and skills of Latrobe based businesses were the key reasons for winning contracts throughout Victoria and interstate. "High achievers in their industry such as Insulmet have a much wider marketplace than just their home turf, yet still deliver big benefits to our local economy," Cr Middlemiss said.
"We do get around a bit. It’s the nature of our work, but it brings new money back into the Latrobe City," Mr Thornton added.
Source: www.gippsland.com Published by: news@gippsland.com
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