Having grown up in a family of builders, Canny Group CEO Greg Davy initially resisted entering the industry. Eventually studying building and construction in his mid 20s, a passion for the industry was ignited and Greg hasn’t looked back since. By the age of 27, Greg was leading the Victorian division of a successful South Australian contracting company. Starting the business “from scratch”, Greg quickly proved himself in the industry, identifying opportunities for expansion and broadening his skillset and the variety of work the business could take on in that market. “What I learned in the early days was that you can’t be a one-trick pony,” says Greg.
“I gained trust because I put effort into getting the jobs done on time, to a very high level,” he explains. It was the start of a thirty-year career; those two things becoming integral to Greg’s ongoing success. In that initial role he worked on some impressive projects — from the Shrine of Remembrance, to Federation Square. “I gained a really good understanding of commercial construction and the critical nature of those projects.”
Learned business lessons young
In conjunction with the remarkable commercial builds Greg was managing, he also had a side business renovating and selling domestic projects, all before he was 30 years old. He credits the “monster renovation” side gigs as providing him with a good insight into boutique custom building — things like attention to detail and architectural response — which today, at Canny Group, is an area where he focuses his energy.
From 2000 to 2010, Greg tried his hand at developing, building everything from new ten-storey apartment blocks to fitting out heritage buildings. He also worked as a contractor for various architects, building homes in Melbourne’s prestigious suburbs.
That vast experience across commercial and residential builds placed Greg in good stead for his role at Canny Group, which was traditionally a design and construction business when he joined in 2010. Upon starting his role there, he immediately identified opportunities for the group. “Because of my history, where I have always tried to have multiple revenue streams, I could see what potential there was in this business,” he says.
Diversifying while maintaining an eye on quality
Over the past five years, the Canny Group has translated the skills and experience of its entire team into a broader range of offerings in the design and construction industry. Off the back of a strong brand — renowned for creating iconic award-winning homes that focus on quality — Canny Group has successfully diversified its business into multiple divisions, including Integrated Pools; award-winning architecture studio Canny Architecture; Canny Projects, responsible for residential and commercial development; and Lubelso by Canny, a division which offers luxury predesigned architectural homes with a focus on premium quality fixtures and fittings.
Quality is in our DNA. We just won’t accept second best. If something is wrong, we will rip it out and fix it.
“At Canny, our strength is the fact that quality is in our DNA,” says Greg, explaining that they are sought out by customers because of this. “We just won’t accept second best. If something is wrong, we will rip it out and fix it.”
‘You’re only as good as your last job’
Lubelso by Canny launched in the first year that Greg was at the company. After about a year he was appointed as General Manager and then Group CEO in February this year. Bringing his commercial nature with him to the role, Greg says he has aided in transforming Canny Group from a purely domestic construction company. He explains his hand in securing a commercial contract for the final eighty-eight dwellings in a project in Kew, in what was initially a $21 million contract — the biggest ever secured at the time by Canny Group — that ended up reaching about $74 million. “That was when we really hit our straps,” he says. “Today Canny Projects — where we build townhouses and multiple dwellings on a site — is our engine room; that is where we are getting most of our revenue. We are targeting for $113 million for the 2017 financial year.”
As Group CEO, Greg controls the delivery of the business plan and has established a strong senior management team. According to Canny, he has been directly responsible for elevating the Group turnover year on year, placing the business in a good financial position for the future.
Not one to rest on his laurels, Greg insists there is always room for improvement. “I believe it is so important to not only continue to do what you’re doing, but to actually improve on it,” he says. “Even though people are knocking on our door, you are only as good as your last job in this industry, so you have to keep working as hard as you can.”
Growth in predesigned homes
The growth for Canny Group is in “predesigned homes, cementing our place in projects and our own developments,” says Greg. The Lubelso by Canny predesigned homes offer new homebuyers high-end, luxury homes that are architecturally designed by Canny Group’s award-winning architects, and guarantee a certainty of price, delivery and design. It’s a division which Greg says is really starting to ramp up now.
“We’ve had record numbers of customers coming through so we are hoping to fast-track the build of more display homes to fifty in the not too distant future,” he says.
Canny Group’s strong brand and growth is a boon for its business-to-business relationships too, and Greg is quick to point out the importance of those relationships in the industry. The company consciously makes an effort to build strong connections with its suppliers and subcontractors. “It is pivotal to a business of our size to have good relationships, and it’s important to keep working on them,” he says. “We seek suppliers that are best of breed, or that have a really premium product that is accepted in the market, because their product assists us in keeping our brand strong.”
After thirty years in the industry, Greg insists he still gets a kick out of standing back and admiring a completed building. “The best part of my job is the gratification. The experience of completing something and standing back and thinking, ‘Wow, I was involved in that’ — that is my biggest buzz.
“Also, every day is different and I get to meet extremely interesting people. My work is vibrant and challenging; I feel privileged, it’s been that way my whole working life.”
