Australia's mechanical services market underwent a serious shakeup following the collapse of the Hastie Group in 2012.
Despite the economic volatility one company that has thrived during this period is South Australian based company, First Degree.
Celebrating 10 years of business in late 2014, the company's managing director, Phil Donnelly, admitted its been a very tight market.
“But First Degree has seen exponential growth almost doubling revenue each year and constantly increasing staff numbers,” he said.
Donnelly attributes this success to cost containment and being selective about projects it undertakes.
“The focus has been on keeping overheads down and minimising costs internally,” he said.
“The market will remain tight in 2015 with no improvement likely until the second half of the year. Even then it will be a moderate improvement.”
First Degree has been busy with the three biggest refrigeration projects in South Australia.
Projects include the Royal Adelaide Hospital, a $2.2 billion infrastructure project in which First Degree is installing the hospital's refrigeration systems and air conditioning duct work.
The company was subcontracted by BSA Limited and the scope of the work has meant dedicating three First Degree project managers, 15 refrigeration and air-conditioning specialists and up to 40 other subcontractors to the project.
Donnelly said his teams have been working hard installing refrigeration racks and single remote refrigeration systems in 31 different rooms at the new hospital to be used in pathology, pharmacy, clinical trials, two commercial kitchens and the mortuary.
“We will have staff on the job until the end of December 2015, meaning a total commitment of almost two and a half years,” he said adding that the hospital is due to open in 2016.
Other large projects include the new Adelaide Oval and Edinburgh's new RAAF base precinct.
The Adelaide Oval project involved the installation of 70 coolrooms, 19 beer systems, 30 bar cabinets and five plunge pools.
“A total of 22 staff worked on the project which is valued at $2.9 million,” Donnelly said.
First Degree is still a family owned business that began a decade ago with only two staff.
One of those staff was Donnelly who began his career as a refrigeration mechanic.
Today the company has around 56 staff.