New Link

New Link Pty Ltd is a family business in the true sense of the word. Started by Dennis McElroy in 1994, it wasn't long before sons Zane and Haydn joined their father to establish New Link as one of the most successful commercial mowing businesses in the country.

Dennis always held the belief that it's better to work for yourself than anyone else. For many years he owned and operated motels in New South Wales and Victoria, but he was keen to capitalise on his extensive background in farming so eventually moved to Sydney's Campbelltown to pursue the dream of applying his rural skills.

His ambition paid off quickly. Already highly skilled in commercial lawn care, Dennis began working agreements with Transgrid at Dapto, Wallgrove and Smithfield along with contracts for the Department of Housing at Tregear, Willmott, Mt Druit, Cranebrook, Telopea, Airds and Minto, all within a few years.

Kaye McElroy joined her husband in running the office. It wasn't long before their two sons, along with 8 years combined experience in domestic lawn mowing and maintenance, also came on board to complete the New Link family.

“Dad is an amazing guy,” said his son Haydn. “He set his mind to it and achieved his goal.”

Dennis's iron clad focus has created a nine-staff business that continues to expand. “There's no shortage of work,” said Haydn. “It's been a lot of hard work but what keeps the business ticking over is our access to a constant stream of tenders and our ability to respond to them successfully,” he added.

Ninety five percent of New Link's business comes from tenders. The company has been subscribing to the TenderSearch Notification Subscription service for four years.

“There's no way we would be able to access all these tenders if we were looking through papers ourselves,” said Haydn. “We can't put into words how valuable the service is to our business … you could say it IS our business. The work comes to us and we simply apply for it and know that we can fulfill our commitment confidently with a top quality service.”

Dennis's wife Kaye, another integral part of the New Link team, runs the office. Allocated New Link's tender response person, Haydn is also a big advocate for the TenderSearch Response Training, Responding to Tenders Workshops.

“Because our business is built around responding to tenders it seemed a natural progression to attend a Responding to Tenders Workshop,” said Haydn. “By nature, tenders are usually massive, confusing documents. I knew the Workshop would demystify the whole response process. It broke it down, and explained it simply and clearly so now I always respond confidently and accurately … and with great success,” he said.

Amongst other regular work, New Link is currently under contract for vacant blocks in the south western Sydney area for the Department of Housing, and Cranebrook Estate lawn maintenance for the Department of Housing, Parramatta.

New Link Pty Ltd is committed to quality commercial lawn care with an emphasis on professional service and reliability. The Company even employs workers from the areas they maintain which gives the employee and community a chance to be involved in the presentation of their community.

“We aim to provide a service that will fully satisfy our clients so we ensure our employees are suitably trained and qualified and that they can fulfil our clients' needs,” said Haydn. “We take a caring, family approach to our business and we recognise that a commitment to quality at all levels is essential to the long-term success of our company.”

Anna Gregory is a freelance journalist. She has 20 years experience in broadcast television as presenter and producer, and corporate communications as media advisor and writer.

As published in TenderSearch Magazine - Spring/Summer 04 Issue