Who are you?
Project Plumbing & Maintenance Pty Ltd.
What sort of work do you do?
Hydraulic plumbing for small/medium commercial projects and commercial preventative and compliance maintenance – including 24-hour emergency call outs.
How long have you been in business?
I started in 1988 working for the original Cooke & Dowsett business which was owned and operated by Bob Cooke & Ray Dowsett, during the journey the business changed names several times. I started as a first year apprentice progressively being tasked with more and more responsibility, once I was qualified I started to site manage small/medium commercial projects. After several years of site managing the projects rapidly became bigger so it was a very quick learning process to get on top of the requirements presented by the big tier 1 commercial projects. I was given the opportunity to project manage which started off not unlike site managing looking after small/medium commercial projects eventually managing large projects which is a huge challenge and probably not something that can be prepared for especially the first couple. I was elevated to operations manager and after 22 years I left my initial place of employment and started with Chadd Cooke & Scott Dowsett at Cooke & Dowsett as we know it today. I performed the Operations Manager role for 11 years with C&D before partnering with Scott & Chadd to start Project Plumbing & Maintenance which I have been the General Manager for just over 12 months.
What got you into the industry?
My father and older brother are both plumbers who have also worked in the commercial sector.
What do you enjoy most about being a plumber and being part of the plumbing industry?
Seeing the development of people who grow more and more confident daily. Its very rewarding to see people succeed especially the ones who may have been heading in the opposite direction.
Do you have any great achievements or stories about plumbing that you’d like to share?
In my case I think loyalty has been a great achievement I don’t think too many people could say they only worked for and with two generations of another two families. Bob & Chadd Cooke - Ray & Scott Dowsett.
Are you on social media? What are your handles to follow?
Currently on linked in currently working on our web site.
What’s your best bit of plumbing/business advice?
Safety, quality and compliance are the thee most importance factors that will produce the best outcome.
