2007-08

Marcos met Paul through his sister and the future brothers-in-law got along straight away because they had similar interests – both at work and outside their working life. They started collaborating on their own home renovations and began to pick upsmall construction jobs here and there.

From the beginning, their thinking and methods were closely synched, with a commitment to quality service and efficient business processes.

2009

The pair concentrated on picking up construction jobs wherever they could then hammering the work out – so they could finish early and get out to play golf. They remember this year for both getting a lot of work done and also for playing some seriously good golf.

As concrete polishing became increasingly popular, our two friends from the building trade watched it being done – and decided they could do it better.

They came up with the business name “Policrete’ – and when a quick ASIC search proved that it was available, the boys drove straight to ASIC in the CBD and registered the business name on the spot.

2010

Before doing a single concrete polishing job the pair travelled to Shanghai to test some entry level equipment and tooling. They put in an order for 3 machines and got started with small jobs that nobody else wanted.

The machinery was good enough to get started and was great to learn on. The 2 smaller machines were soon sold off leaving the 3rd machine. This 180kg 3 head planetary concrete grinder did all the work for the next 12 months. (We still own the machine till today but it has been retired to the Policrete yard as a symbol of how far we’ve come.)

A 5 day marketing and concrete polishing course helped take them in the right direction and they were the only team to come out of that specific course and make a successful business from it.

2011

The original Chinese machinery was replaced with Husqvarna equipment to allow Policrete to compete on larger jobs. The old 180kg Chinese grinder was upgraded to a 450kg Husqvarna grinder.

Paul and Marcos recruited their first staff members with previous experience in the industry and that really helped to get business heading in the right direction.

The first Policrete truck was put on the road – no more ramping machines out of a van and towing generators on a trailer. The truck was completely self sufficient with tailgate lifters to get the machines onto the job and 3 phase generators on board to power up their equipment in any location.

(As business grew, Paul and Marcos found that golf started to take a back seat and found other ways to enjoy life.)

2012

We continued to grow as a business, putting a second Policrete truck into service. The development of the team’s mechanical polishing skills showed as we began landing bigger jobs. We added HTC concrete grinders were added to our arsenal of machinery for the really big jobs.

We did our first concrete bench top job for Vaughan Constructions head office and this service was quickly added to the list of Policrete specialist capabilities.

2013

With skill, people and equipment, it was time to show off. Policrete attended Grand Designs Live, a trade show that had over 30,000 visitors. Since then we have attended every Home Show and Home Expo show annually.

We built a mobile concrete showroom in house from a shipping container and it was a front runner in design for the trade shows. (We are now regular exhibitors at the Herald Sun Home Show, The Home Expo show and the DesignBuild Expo.)

We put a full time decorative concrete team on the road to take care of concrete benches full time.

Business was growing and we put on 2 full time staff members in sales so we could concentrate on running the business instead of the tools.

2014

This was the year we went “full service” and started pouring concrete. We were sick of seeing infill slabs poorly and incorrectly done – so we started providing the service ourselves. A third Policrete truck in put into service specifically to enable our infill slab pouring service.

This truck was fitted with a 6m crane to allow us to place our heavy equipment onto hard to reach job sites. This capability has paid off for us and our clients on dozens of occasions where jobs would otherwise have required to hire a crane for the site.

Looking back, 2014 was particularly important for two special partnerships we formed. We started pouring slabs for DPP Hydronics, who have become a major source of referrals. We also teamed up with specialist concrete supplier Hanson, who we collaborate with for a range of specialist materials and high quality concrete mixes.

2015

We were growing and developing – and so was the range of polished concrete equipment and processes. The Policrete management team went to the World of Concrete in Las Vegas for 4 days of testing new equipment and trialing different procedures from the world’s leading concrete specialists.

The team saw lots of new ideas and systems for concrete – but the main thing they took away from the show was that we were already doing things well – we just needed to continue in the direction we had already started in.

2016

More and more people wanted to know about polished concrete – especially what it looked like. To meet this demand we set up a polished concrete showroom in Ascot Vale.

Business kept growing and we put our 4th truck on the road to meet the demand.

2017

We continued to provide great service to our customers, with a focus on hassle-free service. More big jobs kept coming our way – because we had the equipment and the specialist support vehicles to deliver. The 5th and 6th Policrete Trucks were put into service.

We continued to provide good service for smaller jobs and kept growing – our sales team increased to 4 people to keep service top notch.

2018

The year began big – marked by our relocation to a new 400m2 yard in Footscray – one with a new display area.

The new site is giving us more room to offer other services. From it we can deliver on our expansion plans for the business and still keep delivering the high quality service expected from a small business.

Finally we are in 1 location with room for all the trucks, the product displays – and a basketball ring.

We’re also expanding our business to supply concrete terrazzo tiles – a completely customisable, cost effective way to create unique flooring and paving effects.

TODAY

Where we’re at is pretty amazing – a great team, top notch partners, happy customers, good results and growing business potential.

We are trusted for our expertise now. Our showroom answers a lot of questions for clients and they walk out knowing what they want. It is open 7 days a week, with no need for appointments any more.

Every day, 6 trucks with 2 staff members each go out to deliver services to our clients.

Our affiliations with DPP Hydronic Heating and Hanson Concrete have been cemented through dozens of jobs completed over the years. We have all the details of our products and processes completely refined. Our social media presence is ramping up as we continue to post the results of our work.

Policrete has become a leader in the industry and the envy of many of our competitors. Whilst growing from 1 employee to 15 the business culture has stayed strong and consistent.

All our staff enjoy coming to work and showing off their skills. We have gamified many aspects of our business – such as our weekly staff photo competition where a prize is awarded for the photo that performs best on our social media platforms.

Moving forward, we are slowly launching other decorative concrete products but not rushing it too quickly – it’s critical that we maintain the quality of our existing services.

Paul and Marcos have replaced golfing with snowboarding, compressing their ecreation into shorter, high-intensity expeditions to different destinations.

Policrete has become a leader in the industry and the envy of many of our competitors. Whilst growing from 1 employee to 15 the business culture has stayed strong and consistent.

Moving forward, we are slowly launching other decorative concrete products but not rushing it too quickly – it’s critical that we maintain the quality of our existing services.

Paul and Marcos have replaced golfing with snowboarding, compressing their ecreation into shorter, high-intensity expeditions to different destinations.