SA Chapter HALL OF FAME

Web: www.kennettbuilders.com.au

Charles and Cliff Kennett, stonemasons and bricklayers, decided in their early 20s to establish the Kennett Brothers partnership in 1914. Their business grew as the suburbs North of West Croydon spread and created demand. Kennett Brothers were, at times, paid for the work they had undertaken with allocations of land, but when the Great Depression started to affect the Australian economy, that land was not worth anything and their business was at risk. Their solution, for the next 10 years, was to secure constant work in rural SA constructing residences and farm buildings.

Charles’ sons, Neil and Dean, together with Hugh Simpson, a building tradesman who married one of Cliff’s daughters, became the second generation directors of the business following WWII. Their post-war work was mainly residential, but during the 1960s they ventured into small commercial work – shopping centres, manufacturing plants, service stations and hotels throughout SA. During this time, Hugh Simpson and his son Geoff, focused on Housing Trust work under the business name of Kennett Constructions.

Neil passed away in 1969. His son John, who was intent on becoming a farmer, decided to return to the family building business and completed trade training and a Building Diploma in the 1970s. Dean started a branch in Mt Gambier in 1970, and, as Kennett had been one of the original contractors for the township of Elizabeth, they secured many Housing Trust contracts. That branch of the business continues to this day.

In 1981, the third generation members, Geoff Simpson and John Kennett, bought out the other shareholders and focused primarily on commercial building. History repeated itself when the early 1990s recession created a shortage of work and so again the business turned to country SA and Victoria for ongoing contracts.  During this time, John Kennett became the sole owner of the Kennett group of companies. Since 2000, the business turnover and staff numbers have grown by a factor of four. Larger projects have included the 5-storey Mechanical Engineering Building at the University of Adelaide and the well-known Adelaide Oval indoor cricket centre.

The fourth generation entrants are John’s sons, James and Scott, who bring beneficial external experience to the ongoing growth of the business. In 2008, Kennett Builders won the Master Builders Association Commercial Builder of the Year, and completed the first 5-star Green Star building in regional Australia for ForestrySA in Mt Gambier.

Now successfully entering the fourth generation, Kennett Builders is the oldest family-owned and operated building company in the state.

Kennett Builders was inducted into the FBA(SA) Hall of Fame in 2009.