Humble beginnings.
When Matthew Collins hung up his ‘Carrier and Contractor’ sign at his
Marrickville premises around one hundred years ago he undertook haulage work
with a single horse and dray.
It
was a humble beginning that developed rapidly into an operation that involved
100 men and 130 horses and vehicles.
Historical documents, such as the History of Marrickville, show that Mr
Collins and his staff were extremely proud of their horse teams, which were
recognised as among the finest in the state.
Today’s managing-director, his grandson Matt
Collins, refers to this high standard as typical of the company in both the
past and present.
It was relatively unusual at that time for a company to specialise in
conveying turf soil, and garden materials, but he quickly found a market niche
that ranged from supplying tennis courts, private homes, cricket grounds and
Marrickville’s parks. Before long the company was a regular supplier of soil
and top dressing to Royal Sydney Golf Club, White City, Sydney Cricket
Ground and Randwick Racecourse. Turf was supplied to Hyde Park and the
Sydney Botanic Gardens.
In the 1920s horse transport gave way to motors and Mr Collins rapidly built
up a fleet of motor vehicles.
The company continued to expand despite the
depression. Today the company has a fleet of over 100 vehicles from road
vehicles largely involved in transporting the company’s own products to
earthmoving and excavating equipment. It was one of the first two transport
companies to have R.T.A. accreditation in NSW.
After the war the business was incorporated and Matthew’s son John diversified
the business. In response to post war reconstruction an earthmoving plant hire
division was formed, bulk haulage of goods from wharves was undertaken, and an
industrial waste division introduced.
The traditional Collins business, supplying quality materials to the sports
turf industry, has succeeded and expanded because of the company’s careful
planning to ensure secured resources are available to meet market
requirements. Today the company’s strategically located bulk depots at
Revesby and extractive reserves at Camden offer the industry long term
security of supply.
