The “carnage” of company failures in commercial construction has given builder Hickory the chance to take on projects twice as big as those it has traditionally done – particularly to meet the growing demand for apartments and build-to-rent housing.

Reduced capacity due to insolvencies that hit a decade-plus high last year was giving Melbourne-based Hickory – which made 95 per cent of its $600 million revenue in FY22 from construction – scope to tender for bigger jobs as well as to diversify, chief executive Michael Argyrou said.