Barcam’s long and prestigious history with Mackay
THERE aren’t a lot of Mackay businesses that can proudly say they have been in business for over 60 years. But Barcam Electrical Services can.
The locally owned and operated business has been providing the Mackay region with dependable, affordable electrical installations and repairs since 1957.
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Barcam’s history
Owner Meagan Waterson said Barcam was established by Chook Bartolo and Alice Camilleri, hence the name, and was run from their home up until 18 years ago.
“Since opening, Barcam have always provided domestic and small-scale commercial electrical installation and repairs.
“But in 2006, our commercial work grew to a size where we decided to create an umbrella company, Barcam Commercial.”
For eight years this commercial division was run by Meagan and her husband, Ross while Chook’s son, Paul ran the domestics division.
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“Through this, we were able to provide specialised commercial and industrial electrical work for our clients,” Meagan said.
“Some of these larger jobs included sports field lighting and shopping complexes as well as construction solutions for commercial and industrial builds.
“We merged the two divisions back together in 2014 to become what it is today, Barcam Electrical Service and we continue to servicing the Mackay region in all areas of electrical from domestics, maintenance and commercial developments.”
Barcam’s family feel
Barcam not only has a long and prestigious history with the Mackay region but with Chook working up until the day he passed and Paul now retired from the family business, Barcam has a real family feel and today they employ nearly 30 Mackay locals, a number of whom are generational staff.
“At the moment we have 27 in our team: two managers and an admin team of four, an estimator and the rest are electricians and eight apprentices. We usually put through two apprentices a year,” Meagan said.
A number of Barcam Electrical staff have been nominated for industry awards, such as Master Electrician of the Year and Apprentice of the Year.
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“Our electricians are continually learning to ensure that each job is completed to above industry standards. Thanks to our independent training advisors, all of our tradesman and apprentices are meeting all safety standards. We conduct monthly safety checks and appraisals of our staff to ensure that we are meeting all legislative requirements.”
Barcam’s future
When asked what sets their business apart from others, Meagan said it would be their mix of innovation and tradition.
“Aside from the fact that we deliver a quality service on time and on budget and provide old-fashioned, personal service for all of our clients while also utilising the latest technology to ensure that our service is efficient and cost-effective, we do all types of electrical work.
“We tend to be the preferred supplier for domestic electrical work throughout the entire region due to years in industry and experience and there’s not much we can’t help our clients with and if we can’t we’ll source another subcontractor to do so.”
Meagan said the commercial division is also a one-stop-shop.
“The builder will come with us and we can arrange the electrical, communications, security and fire package using subcontractors we coordinate with.
“We pride ourselves on supporting quality local businesses which is why we maintain a constant connection with other Mackay-based trades. In doing this, our clients know they can call us, and we will refer them to only those tradesmen whom we know, like and trust.”
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Meagan wants the people of Mackay to know they’ve been around since 1957 and deliver on time and on budget work for domestic, commercial and maintenance.
She also said leading up to cyclone season now is the time to be checking generator changeover switches.
“If you don’t have one check your generator is working but don’t try to do electrical yourself, leave it to the professionals, like us.”
For more information on Barcam see their new website here.
