‘I couldn’t face another year’: Crippling supply chain shortages claim local building company

After two years of struggling to source materials and trades a Geelong region builder of 25 years has made the difficult call to close his business and let his team of employees go.

A Torquay building ­company has succumbed to crippling supply chain shortages after close to a ­decade in business.

Anthony Lococo, who has been working in the industry for 25 years and running his own company Lococo Build for the past seven, said the shortages had left him “broken­”.

He has decided to close the business.

“It’s been a heartbreaking decision to make, but after two years of struggling to get materials and trades, and costs continuingly blowing out and eating into anything that even looked like a profit margin, I decided at Christmas that I just couldn’t face another year of it,” Mr Lococo said.

“I’m drained and I’ve had enough.”

The 42-year-old father of two said the hardest part of his decision was knowing he would be putting his seven employees out of work.

He said he knew of at least two other builders in the area who had been forced to make the same decision.

Local builder Anthony Lococo is closing his business due to supply chain issues.

“My wife and I built this company from the ground up … and until Covid hit, I thought we were really starting to kick goals,” he said.

“I got to the point where I couldn’t even face the thought of going into the ­office. Having to let my team go is devastating, but I don’t realistically have any choice.”

A survey last year by Master Builders Australia revealed 98 per cent of Victorian builders had been affected by supply delays and price rises, with some waiting times blowing out to six months.

Mr Lococo said all his current projects would be completed before officially shutting down, which he said made picking an end date challenging.

“We’ve got one project that we thought – even allowing for some serious time blowouts – would have been finished well before Easter, but Easter has been and gone and we’re still waiting on some materials and trying to lock in trades,” he said.

“You just can’t run a successful business like this – you’re just belting your head against a brick wall.

“I love the building game, it’s just a pity that Covid has made it so tough to run a business.”

Last week, the state government released its response to an investigation by Better Regulation Commissioner Anna Cronin, ­supporting nine out of 10 key recommendations in the ­Addressing Supply Chain Challenges Final Report.

But the government did not show its support for the recommendation to insert “cost escalation clauses” into building contracts under $500,000, which would allow builders to share some of the financial impact of contract cost blowouts.

Master Builders Victoria acting chief executive officer Tristan Moseley said the body would work with the state government on its Residential Construction Costs Working Group, which was announced last week in the wake of the report.

“Given the very serious consequences we’re seeing across the building and ­construction sector, we’re looking forward to working with the Victorian government,” Mr Moseley said.

Originally published as ‘I couldn’t face another year’: Crippling supply chain shortages claim local building company