Where it all began
The business started with my father and me. He was working as a building supervisor for another company, and I had done my trade as a carpenter and worked as a building supervisor myself before finding my way to university to study business. When I came out the other side of that degree, an opportunity presented itself to start a building business and I thought, this is perfect. It brings together everything I’d developed along the way: my supervision experience, my trade background and my business training.
Launching the business
So we launched. My father and I started a building business together. I ran the admin and sales side, while he supervised the sites. In those early days, we operated under a different brand, and that arrangement came with its own challenges. Over time, we made the move to our own brand, Integrity New Homes. It was during those formative years that we really learned what it takes to successfully run a building business.
Building the systems
The business grew, and it grew fast, the way businesses sometimes do. As we scaled, we started to identify the key systems the industry was missing: the software, the purchasing agreements, the marketing. So I began reaching out to people who could help develop those systems. We layered them in, piece by piece, until we had something we felt was genuinely attractive to other builders.
Why we chose franchising
The first steps toward franchising actually came from our own people. Staff who had been working with us moved to remote locations and said, “Glenn, we’d love to keep accessing those systems.” That got us thinking. A franchise model made sense to us for a reason that goes beyond business logistics: I’ve never been comfortable with the big corporate model, where everything runs out of one head office and the people on the ground feel remote and disconnected.
To me, that model feels impersonal for the client. I much prefer a local builder, embedded in their own community, delivering homes to the people who live there. That’s what made franchising so appealing. So when our staff asked if they could access our systems, we released them through a franchise model and over time, we began offering that same opportunity to other builders right across the country.
Looking back
We’re incredibly proud of the journey this has taken us on. The builders we’ve been able to support, and the many homes we’ve been able to deliver to families right across the country.
