Linda Coyle has been with Doolee, a national end-to-end construction contractor, since its inception in 2014.
Linda, along with Francis Lee and Eanna Doolin, started the business when they came to Perth from Ireland in 2013 after working together in the United Kingdom.
With a finance and commercial background as a qualified chartered financial accountant, Linda has used her skills to run the accounts and manage human resources and operations before moving into the CFO role and recently taking on the job of CEO.
The skillset between Linda, Francis and Eanna enabled them to grow the team from the ground up and build the business to greater capabilities, bringing new people in to take on the hands-on roles they were doing themselves.
“The company has experienced year on year growth since inception, with the last three to four years bringing increased growth and diversification. Having predominantly being a civil subcontractor in the past, we now offer both a head contractor and subcontractor model to our clients,” Linda explained.
“We have always put a big emphasis on self-performance of the works, building a multiskilled workforce in addition to significant investment in construction plant and equipment, which gives us greater control of project programmes and budget, whilst bringing in sub-contractors as required to deliver the clients projects.”
Now stepping into the CEO role, Linda has been focusing on strengthening the teams and systems to give her full oversight of all aspects of the business where she works closely with the two directors and the senior management team.
“Our people are our most important asset. We have people who have been with us for the whole 10 years. They are part of the family and have been crucial in allowing the business to succeed and grow over the years,” Linda said.
“I believe in investing in people and multi-skilling them. There’s not one person for one job. We were very much like that ourselves the whole way through the senior management team that anybody can step in and assist.”
Culture is hugely important to Doolee, she explained. “Everybody’s part of the team. It’s all about working collaboratively and everybody does a little bit of everything. The door is open to everybody, everybody matters, and everybody’s contribution is valued. We aim to ensure that each work day is safe, productive and purposeful for all of our team, in turn delivering the best outcome for our clients.”
With their head office located in Perth and a second office opening in New South Wales in 2021, Doolee now provides services nationally throughout Australia, with a particular focus in the resource, energy and defense sectors.
They pride themselves on getting repeat work from clients, with some clients being with them for many years. “Our leadership team focuses on providing our clients with a solution to the challenges they face, and a quality outcome on all projects. This is reflected in the strong relationships we have developed with our key clients, and the repeat business we continue to achieve,” Linda said.
Linda said Doolee is more than a civil contractor, but a one-stop shop. “It’s the whole package, from civils, piping, mechanical, electrical, to full asset remediation and on-going maintenance of our clients’ critical assets. We can do it all, so you don’t need to engage with multiple people. We are a multi-disciplinary contractor that is diversifying and brings the whole package to the business.”
She acknowledges the construction market has been rocky, with some ups and downs over the years, but they’ve weathered the storm. Doolee will be celebrating 10 successful years in business next month.
In the last few years, the company has grown significantly. “Back in 2021, we expanded our operations to cover NSW, where we now have multiple teams across remediation and water projects.
“Due to the significant growth in WA over the past number of years, we have worked to strengthen all aspects of our business across the board, from management, to boots on the ground, HSEQ accreditations and continued investment into plant and equipment. We now engage, directly and indirectly, close to 200 people which enables us to continue to provide our services to both new and existing clients,” Linda said.
The company stands strong on its values of integrity, innovation, sustainability, safety, accountability, and dependability, with a commitment to both staff and clients to provide a safe and sustainable working environment. “We’re all very dedicated and mission-focused,” Linda said.
Ten years on, Linda and the team are working to further strengthen their business to allow continued growth and increase their client base.
“We want to thank all our people who have been part of the journey over the past 10 years, and of course our clients who continue to trust us with delivering their projects,” Linda said.
“We are proud of the business we have built and are confident we can continue to grow and deliver in the same fashion moving forward.”
