Regional NSW company, Stripes Industrial, has won a contract to supply PPE to the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ). It is the biggest contract the company has won since opening in Gunnedah about a decade ago and it’s thanks to ICN. Company representatives heard about the project through a notification on ICN Gateway and attended an ICN networking event featuring presentations from ACEREZ, the joint venture appointed as preferred network operator.
Business Development Manager Danielle Lambert said the event offered the chance to meet with the key people involved in the project.”There was quite a bit of networking time, and we had a good chance to talk to all of the important people that were there for the project and have conversations about local engagement.”
Through its Mudgee office, Stripes submitted an Expression of Interest on Gateway and were invited to tender, eventually winning the 4 to 5 year contract to supply PPE to the REZ. “The biggest contract that the business currently has is in Gunnedah, and this is likely to be about double, if not triple, the size of that,” Danielle said.
Apart from the clear financial benefit, the contract has also given Stripes the opportunity to position itself as experts in PPE for renewable energy zones, as well as connect with other suppliers to the REZ. “It gives you a better standing, especially here in Mudgee. We’re able to talk about having been successful with this contract,” Danielle said, citing an earth moving company that is now using Stripes for all their consumables and PPE, after connecting on the REZ. “It’s the add on stuff I think that’s most beneficial. We’ve had a conversation already with the maintenance crew that will be coming in once all the transmission lines are finished.”
“I think there’s around 30 approved solar and wind farms that are going to be built to connect to these transmission lines. And we’ll be out there on site. We’ll have vending machines with our branding on it. Renewable energy zones are fairly new as a market in Australia, so it puts us in good standing for future renewable energy zones as well. We want to try and become renewable energy zone experts, and move to the Hunter Valley one, and then also the New England one.”
And because Stripes has a shopfront presence in Mudgee, ACEREZ employees are “are coming in here just grabbing bits and pieces.”
According to Danielle, ICN has contributed to Stripes Industrial’s business development in several ways. “If the EOI didn’t come through on ICN, we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to tender. That’s the starting step to get on that tender,” she said. “The networking just allows you to create more awareness of who you are. So that when the procurement team is looking through all of the different companies that have tendered, they might remember that’s the lady we met the other day.” Danielle also mentioned the personalised support from ICN NSW’s Central West Regional Manager, David Norris who acts as a mediator between local companies and major project towners.
She said she would recommend ICN to other small and medium regional businesses, particularly for its value for money and comprehensive support. “It’s the timeliness of it too. You might find out through the grapevine that you a new project is coming, but by the time the word has spread, and you figure out who it is you need to talk to, it’s already happened through ICN. So that’s the first port of call for us. They know about these projects the earliest.”
Stripes Industrial has a presence in Gunnedah, Mudgee and Orange, offering workwear, PPE, tools and other industrial supplies.
Find out more on the Stripes Industrial website.
